


Six Seasons and a ????

by itslikegodspilledaperson



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: F/M, Greendale, Near Future, Paintball, Post Season 6
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-17
Updated: 2015-06-24
Packaged: 2018-04-04 21:26:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 22,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4153548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itslikegodspilledaperson/pseuds/itslikegodspilledaperson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Annie returns home to Greendale with news about Troy.   As per usual in Greendale, chaos ensues.</p><p>SORRRY GUYS I ACCIDENTALLY UPLOADED THE WRONG CHAPTER AND WHEN I TRIED TO DELETE IT I ACCIDENTALLY DELETED THE WHOLE WORK BUT I HAVE A DRAFT SAVED IM GOING TO RE UPLOAD IT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! FORGIVE THE BAD GRAMMAR IM JUST UPLOADING THE ROUGH DRAFTS I'LL RE EDIT LATER!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Redacted

**Author's Note:**

> SO SO SO SO SORRY! IT'S ON ITS WAY!

It could get boring.

She didn’t mean it in, like, a BAD way… although when is boring a good thing? Don’t get her wrong, she loved the internship. She loved every second of it, even the boring ones. But filing old, unresolved cases was never a good time, even if you WERE filing for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. For the last week she had been filing redacted documents involving missing persons. She had been filing them by alphabetical order: the “A” states took all of Monday to get through: California had taken up two days all by itself. Today, she was on Colorado. She thought it would be cool looking at cases from her home state, but it was just as arduous and tedious as the other states. If anything, it was harder because it made her miss home that much more… She thought of the friends waiting back home for her. Actually, now that she thought about it there weren’t too many real friends left… While she had become close to Frankie, she wouldn’t go as far as calling her a confidant just yet. Elroy was in California still, as was Abed. She considered the Dean and Chang close associates as well, but best friends? Not quite. That left Britta and Jeff. Jeff… she shook the thought out of her head and kept filing. I wonder what he’s up to, she thought to himself. We haven’t talked in a while… I mean we’ve both been super busy but that’s never stopped us before… She caught herself again as she kept filing away. 

She started working again with a renewed concentration resembling her Adderall-driven focus in high school. She didn’t even think about home until she came across a file folder with everything but 2 lines covered in thick, black marker:

January 30, 2014. Barnes, Troy. Burton, LeVarr.  
.............Pirates ........... Gulf of Mexico ...........Presumed Kidnapped

Her heartbeat ground to a halt and for a second, she was consumed by a wave of heat strong enough to kill off a cactus. Troy? Pirates? Kidnapped??? This had to be some sort of mistake or something; Troy would never get himself kidnapped! She stopped herself and thought about that sentence again… okay, maybe he would. And the FBI knew about it? From the looks of it, the trail had gone cold and according to Satellite imagery, the Tycoon was nowhere to be found. She grabbed the file folder and hurried down the office to her boss, Mrs. Doughty. She was a middle aged woman, slender with blonde hair and reading glasses hanging around her neck. When Annie burst into the room, she had been eating a salad out of a Tupperware but looked up, startled at the arrival of her zealous intruder. 

“Oh, hi Annie. Anything I can help you with??”

Annie handed over the file to her employer; “I know these people!”

Doughty put on her glasses, then examined the folder. “Ah yes, the Burton case. This has become a bit of a legend here at the FBI headquarters… Every hotshot youngster wants a go at this one because they want to be the hero who found LeVarr, but with zero leads and even less evidence, there’s no point in keeping it open. Our agents in the Gulf of Mexico have been alerted to keep on a lookout for these two and their boat, but aside from that there’s not much more we can do unfortunately….”

“But I know them! I went to high school and college with Troy, and we met LeVarr a couple of times!”

Mrs. Doughty nodded slowly. “Well unfortunately that doesn’t change a thing. Everybody who’s gone missing is known by somebody… doesn’t change the fact that we still don’t know where they are.”

Annie nodded slowly, as her heart plummeted. She slowly grabbed the file out of Doughty’s hands, and turned back to go to her cubicle. 

“However…” Mrs. Doughty’s tone trailed off as Annie spun back around to face her boss, a surge of hope apparent in her eyes.

“You being from Colorado and knowing this Troy Barnes’s tendencies may be of some help. I’m not saying the case is reopened per say… but it wouldn’t hurt to fly you to our  
Denver office and help construct a profile on Barnes. We’ve been tackling this case mostly from LeVarr’s side but maybe the answer is with the other guy… the non-celebrity guy.  
And in any case, you’ve worked harder than any intern that I’ve mentored over the last 15 years...” Doughty smiled. “Maybe a vacation is in order.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

If it wasn’t for her will to keep her driving record clean, (0 speeding tickets, 0 parking tickets, 0 car crashes, 0 DUI’s… take THAT, gender stereotypes!) her car would have been a bullet as it sped down the road. Just yesterday she had been in D.C. And since then, she’d been flown back to Denver, where she was taken directly to the F.B.I. Office there and debriefed for 2 or so hours about Troy Barnes. The head of the Denver office, a pudgy balding man who went by Claiborne, had overseen the interview, and seemed friendly enough. However, another man was present as well. His badge read “Special Agent Harold Burnette” and he seemed more than off putting. He stared at her the entire time skeptically, with a sinister smile flashing across his face once or twice. He looked in his late 20s or early 30s, with a jet black crew cut and a muscular build. He didn’t say a word the entire time…

But she pushed them both out of his mind. She had been given a personal day the next day, and she planned on surprising and catching up with her fellow Greendale Students then. But today? Today, she had reserved for surprising a certain Jeff Winger. Her heart fluttered just a bit thinking about him, and the last kiss they shared before she had left. This would be her first time seeing him since she had left, and even though she did not want to get ahead of herself, she wanted to pick up EXACTLY where they’d left off. I mean, the feelings were out in the open now, so it shouldn’t be that hard, right? RIGHT? She pulled up to his complex, getting in without buzzing due to a generous tenant holding the door open for her before it could close. She hastily brushed her hair and checked herself out in her makeup mirror as the elevator took her to the third floor. Her face was starting to go numb from the grinning she was doing, and her heart was pumping the blood through her body so quickly she could almost feel it pulsating through her veins. The door slid open, and she glanced out into the mostly empty hall. Mostly empty, because at the end of it she caught a certain bald man steadily balancing several grocery bags as he fiddled with his apartment keys. He looked up when he heard the elevator “ding!” and his face gave a bit of a start when he saw her. 

“Annie??? What are you doing here?” He questioned, in an inexplicably hushed tone. 

“I’m back in town for the week, to give the FBI a missing person profile on Troy!” She exclaimed as she approached him. 

The man looked at her with certain puzzlement in his face, and she almost caught a glimpse of sorrow. Sorrow? The hell??? 

“You’re not, uh, here to see… Jeffrey, are you??” He stuttered. She rolled her eyes. After 6 years, you’d THINK the Dean would get over this silly obsession with Jeff. 

“Just… here to say hi real quick, no big deal,” she said with a soft smile as she began walking towards Jeff’s door.

She heard the dean object from behind her, but she had tuned him out as she knocked three times on his door. Her heart was thumping inside her, so much that for a second it seemed like it’d be visible to an outside observer. Her heart was beating so fast, it seemed that there was no way to make it stop. 

The doorknob twisted, and the door opened. She looked up, expecting to see that 6’5 frame peering down on her from above. But instead, it was someone totally different. 

Someone who got the heart to stop as all that hope and promise suddenly gave way to pure and utter despair. 

“Annie?”

“Professor Slater???”


	2. Interruptions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 don't worry i'm hurrying!

Just as quickly as she had made her way up to her apartment, she now retreated back through it. She brushed past the Dean’s hurried apologies and down the stairs, not willing to wait for the elevator. She held off on crying as best she could, but by the time she got to her car it was a hopeless cause. She let it all out. The drive back to her apartment was a rough one, and she reeeeaally didn’t want to deal with Britta right now. She knew Britta would pity her, and she did NOT need that. 

But where else was she supposed to go? So she snuck into her old place, for a second forgetting her heartbreak and instead choosing to focus on the fact that their place was virtually the same as when they left. THAT was a relief, at least… What’s more, Britta was asleep on the couch with some celebrity gossip show playing on the T.V. So she snuck into her room. She snuck in, and cried again. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jeff was still trying to wrap his head around what had just transpired. He’d called Slater over to talk. More specifically, to break up. Why? Because they simply didn’t click like they did before Annie came along. He thought that seeing the one woman he’d cared for before he kissed Annie would be what he needed to take his mind off her. He was wrong though, because even with Slater he felt just as alone. It wasn’t her fault, but she simply wasn’t Annie. When Annie was around him, he felt… excited, nervous, warm, fuzzy, happy, giddy, and a million other things. With Slater, he felt… indifferent. So he called her over, and things got weird. Which sucked, because it went relatively smoothly up until the end. He explained to her that he realized if anything was going to happen between them, it would have happened the first time around. At the very least, it would have happened at the Tranny Dance. He said he simply didn’t feel a connection, and frankly she said she didn’t either. They were both just drawn towards the safety of familiarity. He was in awe that he had gotten off so easily, but then Slater had to go and open her mouth again.

“You know, when we dated the first time… I always considered Britta the biggest threat to us. Imagine my surprise when I found out I was wrong.”

His eyebrows raised.

“What do you mean by that? Are you saying I was the biggest threat to us?”

She smiled. “No, it was someone else entirely. And I’d hate to be the one standing in between that now.”

He nodded.

“If you’re talking about Annie, we’re never gonna happen,” he sighed. “She’s gone.”

Michelle smiled. “People don’t stay gone forever.”

He pondered what she said… People don’t stay gone forever. But Annie was so…driven. She was going to travel the world, curing polar bears with cancer or defeating ISIS with   
Ebola or something. He was not a humble man, but he was humble enough to know when something was bigger than himself. And Annie’s potential outside Greendale simply had an exponentially greater upside for her than living out the rest of her days with him. The doorbell rang, and Jeff looked up. He was about to head over from the kitchen when Michelle beat him to it. He couldn’t see who it was from his spot in his kitchen, but he definitely heard the name that Slater said out loud with a certain tone of shock in her voice. 

“Annie??????????” His eyes and ears perked up at the sound of Slater uttering that name. His senses tingled and the blood in his body was infused with adrenaline. He raced to the door, just in time to see she had already made her way back out the hallway and down the stairs. 

Fuck. 

He heard Slater’s voice from behind him as he stood in the vacant doorway. 

“You should probably…”

“Yeah,” he said flatly. “I probably should.”

And with that, he took off after her. Down the hallway. Down each flight of stairs. Through the lobby. Into the parking lot. 

Just in time to see her car pulling away.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She didn’t want to get out of bed, like, ever. The roller coaster she had been on the day before was simply too much for her to stomach and she simply was not ready to face the outside world. The outside world was cold, and cruel, and led you on and opened its arms only to let you fall to the floor while it made out with Professor Slater. And she was simply not ready for that kind of world. She wasn’t a little girl anymore, and she was tired of feeling like one every time Jeff did this. She felt very…season one right now, as Abed would say. She had become independent and she wore pantsuits now and she was an intern for the Federal Government but why DID SHE STILL FEEL LIKE AN 18 YEAR OLD GIRL?? 

It just didn’t make sense. 

But the heart… wants what it wants: Jeff’s words echoed through her head and they rang true now more than ever. But the heart could also seclude itself and ignore the outside world for the entire day as well. And that’s exactly what she planned on doing. 

Unfortunately for the heart, however, sometimes the outside world comes to you. A couple knocks in quick succession on her door drove that point home. 

“Annie? Annie, are you in there?” Britta’s muffled voice eventually found her way to Annie’s ears through the door and the several layers of blankets Annie was hiding under. 

“I saw your keys on the table… I didn’t know you were coming back, is everything okay with the internship?”

She jolted awake. The internship. DC. Troy. Pirates. In a matter of seconds, Annie was up and out of bed, trying to will herself to full consciousness. Being busy had always helped to get rid of emotional baggage in the past, (something she had a lot of experience with, no thanks to Jeff Winger) and this time it was more important than ever. She had to go to Greendale today. She had to tell the group what had happened to Troy. She had to help rescue him, Jeff or no Jeff. Some things are bigger than yourself Edison. And this was definitely one of those times. So she threw on a pair of pajama pants, put her hair into a loose ponytail, plastered a fake smile over her face, opened the door to address the awaiting Britta. 

“Hi Britta! Sorry, I would’ve announced myself last night but you were asleep and I didn’t want to wake you.”

Britta leaned in and hugged her roommate, before getting just a little confused afterwards.

“Wait… but why are you in town again?”

“Well… it was supposed to be a surprise, no one knows I’m back yet. Well, besides…”

“Besides who?” Her roomie asked with an inquisitive look on her face. Annie shook it off.

“Never mind. I just have some important stuff to tell the group. Is there a Save Greendale summer meeting today?”

Britta rolled her eyes at the uttering of those dull, uninspired words. “Ugh, yeah. Thanks for the reminder… Frankie wants us to start cutting the school’s budget, and is probably going to start with the dances… The Dean is going to throw a fit…”

Sounds about right, she thought. 

“Do you mind giving me a ride? I have really important news and everyone needs to hear immediately…”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Britta was more than curious now, but reserved any inquiries as she was too busy trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with Annie. She looked… different. Not like appearance-wise, but just her expression. Something was bothering her… Before Britta could go further into thought about what exactly that something might be, she spent the next 5 minutes silently congratulating herself on her examination of Annie’s facial expressions. By the time she got done patting herself on the back, she had forgotten why she was proud of herself for to begin with. 

“Britta? You okay? You have that look on your face…”

Britta snapped out of it, “Oh yeah, sorry. And what look?”

Annie chuckled. “You know… the ‘I think I just figured something out’ face. Or the ‘I need to use the bathroom’ face… they’re actually pretty similar.” 

Britta shrugged it off. “Ah, it was nothing. Don’t worry about it. We should probably go soon, the meeting starts in a half hour. But first… I DO kinda have to pee.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The committee was ecstatic to see her. Within a few seconds of Annie walking into Study Room F, she was swarmed by everyone, all armed with questions and comments and hugs and the whole nine yards. And she was happy to see them all. Well, almost all of them… Jeff was nowhere to be seen. She allowed herself a split second to wonder where he had gone, but shook herself out of it immediately. No, Edison. We have a job to do. Jeff or no Jeff. 

“Guys,” she tried saying with some urgency as she broke free of the hugs. “I have really important news, you all need to sit down…” The committee’s expressions varied from surprised to intrigued to concerned as they filed into their respective seats. 

She took a breath as she stood in front of them. Everyone was there, sans Elroy and Abed. And Jeff. But who cared about Jeff.

“Well what is it, Edison? We don’t have all day…” Chang muttered impatiently. 

She shot him a look. “It’s about Troy…” 

Immidately the eyes of the room opened and she had their full attention. 

“WHAT ABOUT HIM?” Britta blurted before covering her mouth with both hands and trying to feign nonchalance. 

Annie took a deep breath…

*buzz, buzz* 

It was her phone.

INCOMING CALL FROM: WINGER, JEFFREY.

Annie hit decline. She simply didn’t need this now. She slid her phone back into her pant pocket before lifting her head to address the group again.

“Well, he’s…”

“Hello? Jeff? What’s up?” Across from Annie, Britta had answered her phone. Annie shot her a death glare, but Britta didn’t seem to care. She eyed Annie as she spoke to the Law Professor.

“Is Annie here? Uhhhh…”

Annie fervently shook her head no, but Britta didn’t quite get the gesture.

“…..Yes?”

Annie rolled her eyes mouthing a desperate “What is wrong with you!” Britta’s way, but it was too late. Britta was handing Annie the phone. Despite Annie’s desperate refusal to take it, Britta eventually forced her hand by tossing the phone Annie’s way. Not one to let an expensive phone drop to the floor and break, Annie fumbled for it and eventually got   
a firm hold. She feigned a pleasant “Hello?” into the receiving end.

“Annie?” Jeff’s voice sounded desperate and urgent. “We need to talk… there’s something I have to tell you.”

She had to consciously keep from vomiting as the words filtered into her head. Talk? About what? No. No, no, no, no, no. Sorry Jeff. But you’re not smooth talking your way out of this one. 

“Jeff, I really don’t want to hear it…” she said in as deadpan a tone as she could manage. The rest of the committee eyed her suspiciously, as for most of them it was pretty obvious that there was more to this conversation than what was on the surface.

“No, no not about that.”

Huh?

“Then… what do you want?” Now she was as curious as everyone else.

“Does the name ‘Special Agent Burnette’ mean anything to you?”

The name sent a chill down her spine.

“Uhhh… yeah, he’s a creepy guy who works at the Denver FBI office. I was debriefed by him yesterday. Why?”

“Cuz he’s here.”

Her eyes widened. “Here? Where here? Your apartment here?”

There was a two second pause while Jeff’s voice transitioned into a whisper. 

“No… Greendale here. I was running late to the meeting today because I drank a bit too much last night…” She ignored that last part.

“And on my way in I noticed a train of FBI S.U.V.’s pulling into the school. There’s gotta be 100 SWAT guys getting out of the cars, and the Burnette guy seems to be in charge… They’re surrounding the campus as we speak.”

Huh? She thought. This made no sense…

“Where are you?” 

“I’m in my car still.”

“Stay there. We’ll figure this out soon,” she assured her recently estranged friend. 

“Oh and Annie? One more thing.”

“What is it?”

“They have paintball guns.”


	3. Surrounded

Special Agent Burnette smiled proudly as his well-equipped men took up positions around the school. His men had been training in SWAT tactics every week of their careers, and dominating paintball tournaments every weekend of their lives. This school had no idea what was about to hit it. On campus, students and faculty alike looked on as every escape route and exit was blockaded with SUV’s or patrolled by black armor-clad agents. Little did these students, teachers, and advisors know that they were the final cog in his master plan. 

It wasn’t originally supposed to happen this way. No one was supposed to hop back on the LeVarr Burton case. The truth is, Burnette found out where LeVarr and his non celebrity companion were hiding a week in. It was simple, really. But simpler than that was the fact that LeVarr was rich, and if he was gone long enough someone would offer a ransom for information on where he was. That’s when Burnette would step in and play hero (unofficially, of course) and collect his hefty reward (also unofficially). All he had to do was keep Burton’s whereabouts concealed until then. But then, this overachieving intern Annie Edison had to step in. She knew the other guy on the boat, which was a loose end Burnette hadn’t anticipated. And Burnette wasn’t about to have his big payday taken out from underneath him. 

“Grisham!” He barked. A skinny agent dressed head to toe in Kevlar and a black ski mask hustled to Burnette’s side.

“Did our mole plant that disposable phone in the Study Room?”

The lanky officer bobbed his head yes. 

Burnette smiled grimly. “Then I have a call to make.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The sound of a generic ringtone filled the room. Everyone padded their chests and pockets, all for a split second thinking that the ringing was theirs. When it became obvious to each committee member that it wasn’t them, they turned their attention to each other, assuming it was another person’s phone. But within a few seconds it became obvious it was none of them either.

It took a very resourceful Chang looking under the table to find where the ringing was coming from. 

“Annie! Come here!” the Ex-Spanish and Math teacher hollered. Annie paced over to Chang and ducked under the table, where alas there was a tiny Nokia phone duct taped to the bottom. 

She picked it up.

“Hello?”

“Hi Annie, this is Special Agent Burnette. I believe we had the pleasure of meeting yesterday.”

She hadn’t heard him talk up until this point, but he had a voice so cold and piercing that it sent chills down her spine. The voice took her a bit by surprise, and she consciously   
had to recollect herself before speaking up. 

“…Yes, I believe we did.”

“Good, then allow me to get right to it. Step off of the Troy Barnes case.”

Her eyes shot open, in a bit of a panic now.

“Wait, what, why?”

“Maybe because it’s a dead end: Or, maybe because I know exactly where he is and don’t want him to be found. For free, at least.”

“You want us to pay you for information on our best friend???” She asked, incredulously. 

“Yeah, that’s the gist of it. And I don’t come cheap… Oh, and by the way, don’t bother trying to blackmail me. These phones are encrypted. Everything being said stays between us, and will remain between us.”

“Sorry, but I won’t be held hostage by a pocketbook. We’ll find Troy on our own.”

The man on the other end let out a blood curdling chuckle. 

“You know, I had a feeling you’d say that. You seemed like the upstanding type when we met yesterday. Completely spotless record too; Well, all except for this pesky little Adderall problem you had.”

She smirked now. This was the best he could come up with?

“You mean the one I had when I was 17? That’s no secret to anyone. Hell, I even wrote it down under additional notes on my FBI internship application.”

The agent laughed. It was painfully obvious to Annie now: No, that wasn’t the best he could come up with. She knew exactly what he had come up with.

“No, no, of course not when you were 17. Why would anyone want to ruin such a heartwarming comeback story? Unless, of course… The story doesn’t end there.”

She gulped. 

“I noticed you conveniently left your Pharmaceutical Rep job off of your past work references on your FBI application. So tell me,” he continued. “Does the rest of your study group know you were fired because they caught you skimming Adderall samples? Or that you entered rehab AGAIN under a fake name, paid for entirely by one late Pierce Hawthorne??”  
The phone quivered in her hand as she turned away from the rest of the group and made her way to the corner of the study room. 

“What do you want?” she barely managed to inquire without letting out a sob.

His cold, shrewd laugh taunted her and shook her to her core. 

“What do I want? I want you to never mention Troy Barnes’s name again, unless you’ve got a check in your hand with a lot of zeroes. However, I’m not entirely without compassion, so I’ll cut you a deal. See, my boys and I haven’t been able to get out to the paintball range recently… so we’re jonesing for some action. And word on the street says your little school, and more specifically your little study group, are always up for a game. So, here’s my proposal. If you can survive the next 24 hours without being even slightly skimmed by paint, or if you can manage to kill me and all of my men, I will give you the last known whereabouts of Troy Barnes and LeVarr Burton. But if we manage to kill you and your little committee, you get off our scent and I’ll promise to never let Quantico know about your dirty little secret. Do we have ourselves a deal?”

She closed her eyes in a desperate attempt to contain the waterworks that were almost positively inbound, and took a deep breath.

“Yes,” she heard herself mutter. “We have a deal… Hello?”

The line went dead. Annie tossed the phone onto one of the study room couches, and spun around to face her committee members. How the hell was she going to explain this? In reality, she had no earthly clue. Before she could do as much as open her mouth however, the lights in the school flickered. Flickered, and completely shut off. A voice boomed over the PA System: the voice of Agent Burnette. 

“Hello, students and staff of Greendale Community College. I hope you’re enjoying summer school. If you’re not, allow me to spice up your day, so to speak. Any faculty or staff member that manages to shoot any other member of the Save Greendale Committee with a paintball weapon of your choice will be granted a reward of ten thousand dollars. Starting… NOW.”

The committee all of a sudden felt very alone… and very surrounded. Just like that, they were the target of every student who passed by Study Room F. On either side. They were met with appetizing stares as their classmates had become their enemies in a mere matter of seconds. And it wasn’t like the past paintball fights, where EVERYBODY was EVERYBODY’S enemy. No, this time around everybody was THEIR enemy. Worse yet, the front study room door was open. Wide open. They stared at their classmates through the window, who by now had all stopped what they were doing and waited for the committee to make any sudden movement. The committee did the same. It was a standoff in every sense of the word. 

Annie did her best to make eye contact with Britta, who was closest to the door, but to no avail. The 20 or so students outside the study room eyed Annie & co., and slowly but subtly started inching their way closer to the door. 

“Britta!” Annie managed to whisper loud enough without opening her mouth too much. Her friend and roommate shot her a confused look.

“Close the study room door, Britta” Annie managed to utter just a bit louder. 

“Yeah, Britta” the Dean chimed in, evidently put off by the 20something pairs of eyeballs staring them down. “They’re… looking at us, Britta.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Somewhere in the background, Star Burns had made his way over to his open backpack and slipped one of his hands into the bag. He felt his hands wrap around the holster of a paint pistol, as he licked his chops and scanned the study group. They were all…staring at him and the rest of the students through the open study room door. Nobody made any sudden movements though, each side paranoid that a gesture of any kind could set the other side off. But he had gotten to his bag. And he was screened by 10 or so Greendale Students all positioned in front of him, so he was in the optimal position to make a first move. He pulled the gun from the bag, and slipped behind the librarian reception desk as he picked out a target. Then he thought about how much bigger he could grow his Meth operation with 10 grand…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The committee hadn’t drawn any weapons, Annie realized: Neither had the students, however, so closing the door should have been easy enough.   
“Britta… close the door…”

“I…CANT! My feet are like… glued in place.”

Annie raised an eyebrow. “Wait, like literally or figuratively?”

“Figuratively!” Britta called out. 

As annie stifled a laugh, she saw a flurry of action out of the corner of her eye. Star Burns had broken cover and was charging the entrance, pushing students aside as he let out a war cry and flailed his paint pistol. Annie shoved Britta aside and made her way to the double doors. She pulled them shut, then watched in horror as Star Burns’ gun managed to lodge in between the doors before they could close completely. 

Annie grabbed the gun and attempted to disarm him, but the bigger Star Burns held firm. She maneuvered to the right, back against the inside of one of the double doors and hand still on the barrel of his gun as Alex let off a volley into the study room, sending the Study Group scrambling for cover behind chairs, desks, and couches. Outside, both students and faculty had begun to crowd around the study room doors, on both sides. Chang and Pelton managed to latch and blockade the other set of double doors, as the horde of blood thirsty (err, money thirsty) GCC students pounded on the glass. Some had begun to hand out paintball guns and ammo, while others began to shoot at the study room windows, for intimidation more than anything. 

But Annie still had Star Burns to deal with before she could turn her attention to the horde forming both behind him and on the other side. 

“Britta! Toss me a textbook!”

“Annie this isn’t time for stud-“

“JUST DO IT!”

Britta scrambled over to a desk and pulled out a book, tossing it underhand to Annie who caught it with her free hand. She turned back to Star Burns, and with the book in her hand swung it in an uppercut motion as it made contact with the bottom of the pistol’s grip. The momentum knocked it out of Star Burns’ hands and sent it a few feet in the air. Annie snagged it, turned back to the tiny hatch in the doorway Star Burns had created, and shot a bewildered Osbourne square in the forehead.

“What are you, some kind of Spy?” He asked incredulously.

“No,” she replied with a grim determination. “I’m an intern at the FBI.”


	4. Pop (pop)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Almost there!

Jeff sunk further into his car as hordes of Greendale students ran rampant through the parking lot. Most of them had bandanas around their faces or wore some sort of mask or face paint as they moshed through the campus, lighting flares and throwing paint grenades in the air. Still others settled for just pointing their guns skyward and firing at will.   
Standing a little further back from the fray were the FBI vehicles, with officers taking up defensive positions as they were evidently content to let the school destroy itself before even thinking about entering the game. While most hunkered down behind their cover and only peered out periodically, Jeff noticed one man standing tall and strutting back and forth in front of the SUV barricade while barking into a walkie talkie. Unlike most of the agents, he was not in black fatigues nor did he don a ski mask or helmet. 

No, the man wore a crisp white button down shirt, long sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His shirt tucked into jet black slacks adorned with shiny black shoes and a belt. His shirt was accompanied by a black tie and a black Kevlar vest, with multiple paint pistols holstered on and around it. The guy had piercing, thin eyes and a brown hair combed over to one side, and Jeff would have bet good money that this was Agent Burnette. 

He knew the guy was bad news, and he knew that he’d incited yet another Greendale uprising, but he was a little fuzzy on the details. Where were Annie and the rest of them? How did they fit into this? As if summoned by his thoughts, his phone buzzed as Annie’s name flashed across his screen. He answered before the phone could finish buzzing. 

“Annie?? Are you guys okay? What the hell is going on???”

He could hear her shaky breathing on the other end. 

“It’s Agent Burnette. He’s offered a 10,000 reward to anyone who shoots a member of the Save Greendale Committee. We’ve barricaded ourselves in the study room, but there has   
to be sixty or so students trying to break in. They’ve wrapped Garrett in bubble wrap and are using him as a battering ram on one of our doors... We’re safe for now, but I don’t   
know how much longer we can hold for… Wait, how about you? Where are you?”

“In my car still. There’s a stream of hooligans pouring into the library from the parking lot, it looks like you guys aren’t catching a break any time soon. The FBI is sitting back for the most part… letting the mobs do the dirty work for now. I gotta say, I don’t like this one bit…”

“Jeff, you’re a target too! You have to get out of there!” He could hear the concern in her voice and it was heartbreaking for some reason. She was the one in immediate danger and she was worried about HIM, even after what had happened. Or what she THOUGHT had happened…

“Annie, this isn’t about me right now. Who’s with you?”

“Chang, Britta, the Dean, and Frankie.”

“Are you armed?”

“We have… one gun between the five of us, we stole it from Star Burns. It’s got about 10 or 11 shots left.”

“You guys have to get out of there…” He muttered. 

“Jeff, you don’t understand. There’s NO WAY we are getting out of here. It’s impossible.”

He chuckled. “Almost as impossible as a monkey stealing your pen and hiding in the vents?”

Vents… wait, how had he missed that??? “ANNIE! THE AIR VENTS! YOU CAN ESCAPE THROUGH THEM! Take the vents to the dean’s office and pick up some weapons! We can figure out the rest from there.”

“Jeff, the students will SEE us getting in the vents though, they’ll just follow us up. Or block our exits. Either way it’s a dead end.”

“Not if you have a diversion,” he replied succinctly. 

“Jeff… what are you going to do??” 

“No time,” he quipped. “Just position everyone by the blinds, and when you get my signal, close ‘em. Then make a break for the vents, Chang can guide you.”

“Jeff, I’m not letting you-“

“I’m not asking, Annie. See you in ten minutes.” He hung up and looked around his car for anything that could be of use. There was a paint pistol in the back of the Lexus, something most Greendale students had begun doing in case of situations like this. He grabbed it, and unbuttoned his shirt. His expensive shirt. Then, fighting the urge to cry, he ripped the shirt in half and converted it into a sort of turban/ face guard thing. He tied the shirtsleeves up into a knot behind his head, making the mask taut around his face. Armed with his paint pistol, he exited the Lexus and joined the ever growing group of students converging on the library.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He’d hung up. Why had he hung up? She had no idea, but apparently he was now making his way to them. As much as she disapproved of his recklessness, he had put a plan in motion and it was up to her to make sure his pretend death was not in vain. 

Annie snapped into action. “Chang! Britta! Frankie! Dean! Get in the four corners of the room, and get ready to close those blinds. We’re going to escape through the vents when Jeff gives us the signal.”

“And what signal is that?” Asked Frankie.

“I, uh… I don’t know exactly. But it’s coming. So just be ready. Jeff’s going to try and distract some of the mob as Chang leads us to the dean’s office through the vents. Do you guys understand?” 

They nodded. Well, all besides Britta. “No offense Annie,” she began “But even if Jeff DOES manage to distract a few of them, they’re STILL going to get through that door.”

She gestured over to the double doors, which shook more and more every time Garrett was thrown against it. 

“What are you suggesting?”

“Give me the gun. Those vents will only be able to take a few people anyways, someone has to stay behind and hold ‘em off if they do get through. Plus… I’ve always wanted to fake-die while going up against the system. I’m kinda a fake-hero that way.”

Annie nodded solemnly and slid her friend the gun. “If you’re 100% certain of this… then it’s a deal. Now get into position.”

The gang scattered to their respective corners as they peered through the open blinds to the outside. It never ceased to amaze Annie just how quickly this campus could lose their minds and commit 100% to a bit at the drop of a hat. She wasn’t exactly sure what the theme of this paintball game was, but she was starting to think maybe they didn’t need one this year. She was face to face with dozens and dozens of masked marauders, all whooping aloud and banging on the glass, some were throwing paint grenades against the window and others were simply taunting the Committee. It was… unsettling, to say the least. She began scanning the faces of the students, many she recognized from her various classes over the years. But one stood out. He had just walked in through the library entrance and was a bit taller than the rest… he was well built, and fit a tank top very well… her heart fluttered for a second as she found herself fiddling with her hair ever so slightly before catching herself and remembering where she was. This one did seem different though, and the closer she looked at his mask the more it looked like a… torn up button down shirt? They made eye contact, and for a second it seemed like… wait, did he just wink at her? He definitely did. It was Jeff.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jeff made brief eye contact with Annie through the study room window, and gave her a wink quick enough for her to see while still going unnoticed by the rest of the unruly mob. And with that, he reached down and yanked the belt off the student in front of him. On it were 4 or 5 grenades, and a holstered pistol. The kid turned around to confront his assailant, but cowered in fear as the masked man peered down at him menacingly. Jeff broke from the crowd and jumped onto a nearby table, ripping off his shirt-mask. He heard a few students muttering here and there. 

“Is that Mr. Winger? He’s in the committee, isn’t he?” 

“You bet your sweet ass it’s Mr. Winger!” He shouted. “You want ten thousand dollars, losers?”

He pulled the pins out of two grenades and lobbed them into the fray. 

“Come get me!” He barked as he jumped off the table just in time to evade the green and red liquid that radiated through the room, painting most of the mob. He rolled as he hit the floor, and spun around. Drawing both pistols, he fired off shots in rapid succession at any students still standing before making a break for the GCC classrooms with several pairs of footsteps in hot pursuit. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Annie knew it was just a game and that she was maybe being a tad melodramatic, but watching Jeff acting so selfless really did warm her heart. He didn’t even know about Troy, or her relapse, or anything else at stake yet he risked his paintball-life without a second’s hesitation. Maybe this was what made him so damn FRUSTRATING. He fooled around with Slater in her absence then went and did this… he made absolutely zero sense. However, he had singlehandedly taken out 30 or so students, and there had to be a good 20 more chasing after him. While she was thankful for his gesture, she had by no means forgiven him. And there were more pressing matters at hand. While Jeff had taken care of a good number of the enemy, at least 20 remained outside still including Michelin Man Garrett. And he was closer than ever to breaking in. On Annie’s mark, they closed the shades and made for the vents, as Britta overturned the study room table and slid it to the corner of the room, ready to make her last stand. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Thank God he was in great shape, Jeff thought as he sprinted through the cavernous halls of Greendale. The students behind him were, well, behind him, and very well behind him at that. They were gassed too, and it was evident in their aim. He heard paintballs whizzing by his head, but none close enough to be a concern. A couple of times he had turned a corner to see a straggler or lone wolf in front of him, but his reflexes put theirs to shame and they were eliminated before they could even consider drawing their weapon. He had to reload on a few occasions, so on those instances he threw out a paint grenade to buy him some time as he rounded a corner and restocked. There were plenty of guns left behind to ensure he never ran out of ammo, but the bombs were getting a tad harder to come by. And he wasn’t positive, but he thought he overheard Magnitude telling Afro he was taking a squad to head Jeff off at the next pass. Sure enough, as he rounded the next corner he spotted five or so students waiting for him with pistols drawn. He stopped in his tracks, as the rest of his assailants caught up from behind him. As winded as they were, they did have him surrounded. Guns raised, the ten or so students took aim. 

“Sorry Mr. Winger” Afro piped up, “But I need this 10,000 for rent…”

Magnitude and the rest of the bunch lowered their weapons. “Wait, what do you mean TEN THOUSAND? I thought we agreed on splitting it up evenly!”

“Yeah, but my men tired him out.”

“My men are the ones who cut him off!” Magnitude retorted.

“Only cuz my men drove him to you!”

“Oh, you wanna go there??” Magnitude quipped. The two groups of five began bickering with themselves as if Jeff wasn’t there, and Jeff took the time to scan his immediate surroundings for a way out. Two yards to his left was a door, with a sign above it that read “THIS WAY TO THE GREENDALE GREENHOUSE”. Jeff registered it and turned back to his enemies, who were now fully split down the middle and heatedly exchanging insults. 

“I lost more men!”

“Yeah, cuz you were more out in the open!”

“We were running in front of you guys!”

“Oh, cry me a river!”

“Wait,” Jeff countered. “Since I’m the one dying, shouldn’t I at least offer some advice on the best way to kill me?”

The ten students begrudgingly agreed. 

“Good. Now, a thousand apiece seems like too little, but one man collecting all the spoils is too unfair… what if you guys… nah, that’d never work,” Jeff bluffed.

“What if we what?” Magnitude inquired, eyebrows raised. 

“No, well I was going to say flip a coin for it and divide it amongst one team, that way all five get 2,000 but you guys would never go for that…”

Afro seemed sold enough, though. He reached into his wallet for a coin, but Magnitude was onto him. 

“No way am I letting you pick the coin we use! It’s trick coin isn’t it? I knew it! Trick coin!”

“You wanna bet???”

“POP POPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!” 

And on that note, Jeff dove out of the way and through the exit door as the two factions volleyed into each other. He stood up to see himself not in a Greenhouse, but in a full-fledged indoor rain forest, with mulch and trees and brush everywhere, the air humid and the vegetation thick. He wasn’t certain but he thought he saw a tiny animal scamper across the floor too. 

“Who the hell has time to put this stuff here?” He asked himself as he drew a pistol and struggled forward. He hadn’t made it more than a few feet when his foot snagged onto something, and he felt a noose tighten around his ankle as a rope revealed itself from underneath him, flipping him upside down and forcing the gun from his hands. From the cover around him emerged teenage boys and girls in face paint and Amazonian-style garb. A few faces looked especially familiar, and it hit him: It was the remnants of the Changlorious Bastards. None were armed with guns, but a few had long sticks with paint-dipped sponges at the end. Others held slender tubes to their mouths, probably the paintball equivalent to a blow gun Jeff surmised. The leader, that punk kid Joshua, approached him cautiously. The kid examined Jeff like he was a raw side of beef, then turned to a lieutenant. 

“Paint him.”

The kids began to whoop and holler as the bigger black one came forward with a sponge-spear, directing it’s sponge-y end at Jeff. He smirked a second, and was an inch from eliminating Jeff from the game when the sound of suppressed air echoed through the greenhouse from behind Jeff. He instinctively closed his eyes, but as he opened them he noticed a yellow paint splotch on each Bastard that wasn’t there just mere moments ago. It took the kids a few seconds to register their elimination at the hands of this unknown assailant before they all threw down their spears and blow guns, muttering to each other about how “stupid” and “gay” paintball had become. 

“Is anyone gonna get me down???” Jeff pleaded, but the Bastards were long gone. 

“Well this sucks,” he lamented to himself. 

“Could be worse,” he heard a gruff voice from behind him, startling Jeff more than he was proud of.

“It could’ve been snakes…” the very familiar voice continued. Something cut the rope above him, and Jeff fell to the floor in a messy heap. He situated himself and looked up to see to whom he owed the pleasure. The man donned a wide brimmed fedora, with a whip at his waist and a revolver paintball in his right hand. It could only be one person, he thought: the only guy who would shamelessly use a Harrison Ford character twice in paintball.

“Abed?”


	5. The Mole

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ok THIS is the one i meant to upload...

In front of Annie, she could hear Chang opening the vent that dropped down to the Dean’s office. The metal grating that covered the opening clanged as it landed on the floor, and Chang followed it down. Frankie called out from in front of them, asking if they were good.

“Coast is clear!” was the response. Dean, Frankie, and Annie all followed suit and joined Chang in the office as well as the adjoining office where the Dean made his world-famous announcements from. He retreated to his closet and returned with paint rifles and paint pistols for everyone as well as enough ammo to last them a week. Annie removed her suit jacket and tossed it to the floor as she rolled up her sleeves armed herself before turning back to the group. 

“Okay, these two rooms have enough cover to provide us with at least a decent defensive position, and there’s one of us for every door, so do we want to hole up here for a while, or try our luck out there?” She asked, motioning to the outside world.

Frankie opened her mouth to answer, when the Dean pulled a gun on Annie.

“Dean, what are you doing??”

“Duck!”

She complied, just in time to see 3 projectiles whiz over her head and splat against Fat Neil’s chest as he burst through the door.

“Aww man!” He lamented as he turned and left the room. “There goes my chance at winning back Vicky with a big fancy dinner!”

Through a side door burst Duncan, screaming at the top of his lungs.

“I’m sooo gonna ball out on Thirsty Thursday this week!” He said as he unwittingly ran past Chang, who shot him three times in the back. Duncan stopped, and looked around the room. “You really do suck, you know that??? This is why I left your stupid committee! I’m telling Todd!”

Annie and the rest of the group all gave each other a look and in unison decided they’d sit back and defend this position for a while. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“Yes, I understand…” Todd said into his Walkie talkie as he made his way to Burnette. “No, Duncan I am not sharing any winnings with you, I don’t care how much you owe that   
guy with the eye patch from the race track.”

Todd hung up as he approached Burnette, hunched over a Greendale map with his lieutenants behind the SUV’s. Two SWAT officers stood in his way, and held up their weapons as Todd got near. 

“Let him through,” Burnette hissed without even looking up.

“Agent Burnette, the committee has split up. My militia have breached the study room, but from what I hear Britta Perry is the only one left in it. She killed 10 of my men, scavenged their ammo, and word is she’s not going anywhere anytime soon. There’s a rogue, Mr. Jeff Winger, running through the school and eliminating stragglers. My lieutenants tell me he’s in the greenhouse. As for the rest of the study group…We have no idea.”

Burnette looked down to his phone as it buzzed. “They’re in the Dean’s office. My mole within their ranks just informed me. How many men do you have left, Todd?”

Todd gulped. “No more than thirty.”

Burnette chuckled. “That’ll do, Todd. That’ll do. Forget about the greenhouse and the study room, I want a full scale assault on the Dean’s office.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“Reloading!” Annie shouted, as she ducked under the reception desk. Behind her, Frankie and the Dean popped out from the Dean’s doorway and let a volley loose into the Greendale halls. Paint was exploding all around them. What had started as a rogue player or two wandering into the office had turned into a full-fledged offensive, and it was keeping the remaining four pretty occupied at the moment. 

Annie finished reloading, and on the Dean’s mark made her way back to his office. After just a few minutes, the reception area had fallen. Now they were once again cornered into one room, with two doors and four players to guard them. Annie took a deep breath, and peered out from behind the doorframe. She picked her targets carefully, and one by one sent her fellow classmates on their way. Students darted from cover to cover in the halls, but Annie’s aim proved too quick for them time and time again. Burnette was going to need a lot more than few greedy students to break through here, she thought as a well-aimed headshot sent Quendra to the floor. It may have been tough, but they were actually holding. They were actually going to be okay.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jeff walked behind Abed as the former film student cut his way through vines, weeds, and brush.

“So why are you here, Abed?”

“TV is a dead business, Jeff” his friend stated succinctly. “The show barely made it past Pilot before FOX dropped us, we would have been much better off on Netflix or Hulu. Hell, word has it that even Yahoo is streaming TV shows now…”

“Yeah, they got like three of them, don't they? Other Space and Sin City Saints last time I checked… For the life of me I can’t remember what the third show is called.”

“It’s probably better that way.”

“Wait, Abed if you were coming back to Greendale, why didn’t you tell us?”

The slender half Palestinian shrugged. “I thought it was important for my character arc to be gone for a while. I couldn’t bear having to reveal to the audience that I’ve been working at my dad’s falafel stand for the past month.”

Jeff’s eyes shot open. “MONTH??? WHAT THE HELL, ABED! You know… we all missed you. Hell, I missed you... I definitely could’ve used someone to talk to…”

Abed stopped in his tracks. “Talk to about Annie?”

Jeff shifted his gaze to the fake jungle floor. “…Maybe.”

Abed turned to him. “You guys are going to be okay. After all, in our finale it was pretty obvious that you two thought you were going to see each other again. If anything, your and my goodbye seemed the most final.”

Jeff nodded grimly. “I know. That’s why I’m mad you never told me you were back.”

“Sorry about that. I needed some time to myself though. But I had no choice but to come back to Greendale for the paintball game when I found out about the reward on your heads. You’re lucky I got to you before The Bastards did. They’ve kinda gone insane since Chang abandoned them as their leader.”

“So humor me, what IS the theme this year?”

Abed’s blank stare met his own. “I have no idea. It seems the theme is a combination of themes, almost like our first season. The FBI element gives it a sort of Bourne or “24”   
feel, but the mobs and masks made it feel like the Purge. This jungle is definitely Indiana Jones, but I was prepared to call and audible and switch it to Rambo if the FBI followed us into the jungle instead of some face painted teens. One thing is clear though… It seems like we’re heading towards the trope where the small group of survivors slowly diminishes in size as the supporting characters are killed off one by one. Eventually it’ll just be the two leads: the OTP. A few years ago this was you and Britta. Now…”

“Please don’t say it…”

“It’s you and Annie.”

“Why did you say it?? She’s mad at me right now, and rightfully so. I was stupid and I started seeing Slater…”

“You were scared Jeff. We’re all scared. But you’re going to talk it over with her. Alone.”

“How do you know this?”

Abed stopped walking again, as the two heard a soft “click” under Abed’s feet.

“Because I just stepped on a landmine.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Todd hastily made his way back to Burnette. “Sir! My men have taken one of the rooms but the committee is standing firm in the other. I’m almost out of soldiers…” 

Burnette turned to the leader of the Greendale Militia. “It’s okay, Todd. They’ve done their job.”

Todd seemed more than a little confused… “And what job was that ,exactly?”

He grinned back at the freak with the big forehead. “Waste their ammo,” he quipped as he drew his pistol and shot Todd square in the chest. Todd was livid, but before he could do anything Burnette’s body guards had dragged the Army Veteran away. 

“Grisham!” He called out, as the skinny officer once again ran to his side. “I’ll take care of Britta. You, take your company and move in on the Dean’s office. Kill them all.”

Now it was Grisham’s turn to look confused. “Sir… but the Militia is mid-assault on the Committee’s position.”

Burnette re-holstered his gun and winked at his second in command. “Then kill them, too.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Britta’s luck was similar to the rest of the committee’s so far. From her dugout in the Study room, she had managed to hold off whatever students remained in the library, all while barely breaking a sweat. No one managed to even get close to her, and with each student she eliminated she gathered more guns, more paint, and more confidence. In fact, she was pretty sure the Greendale student body had forgotten about her altogether. That, or they had all been killed… As a matter of fact, she could probably abandon this post and get to the Dean’s office at this point. She’d probably be more useful there. 

Britta gathered up her guns and stepped out from her cover behind the table, but she heard footsteps and they definitely sounded like they were getting closer. Bring it, she thought as she jumped back behind her bunker and drew two pistols. Something was peculiar about these footsteps though… they were louder, and more orderly. Almost as if her soon to be assailants were wearing boots… And aside from the steady click clack of their heavy feet, there was no other sound. No war cries, no air horns or guns being fired in the air. Just… stomping. She steadied her pistols, a lot less sure of herself as she aimed one at each open door. They were closer. Louder… closer… louder… closer… she backed against the corner of the room, shuddering as the sounds approached. Just when she thought she couldn’t take it anymore, the doors burst open and in rushed at least a dozen black-clad agents covered in body armor, complete with ski masks and helmets. The front row carried riot shields, and her frantic shots at the oncoming wall proved fruitless as the paint pellets bounced harmlessly off. 

Before she knew it, her two guns were empty and the study room was full of 20 armored paintball players, all with their weapons trained on her. Reloading was futile, she thought, and she gingerly raised both hands above her head and surrendered to the 20 gun barrels trained on her face. Working his way to the front of the room was a man in a dress shirt and slacks, thin eyes full of sadistic joy as he came face to face with Britta. His nametag read Burnette.

“Well if it isn’t Britta Perry, the anarchist” he teased with a smirk drawn across his face. “You’ll be glad to know that you have the honor of being the first of your motley crew to bite the dust. But don’t worry; the others will be right behind you. Tell me though, how would you like to make ten thousand dollars?”

Britta spat on him. He didn’t flinch, he just simply wiped away the residue on his face before turning around and grabbing the gun from one of the many SWAT agents. 

“Suit yourself,” he sneered as he shot her between the eyes. As Britta fervently wiped at the stain on her forehead, she noticed Burnette texting. She could barely make out who the message was intended to, but she thought it said… No, no, it couldn’t be, could it?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The action was still pretty intense, but the worst part of the attack on the Dean’s office had passed. Fifteen or so soldiers had taken up positions down hallways, outside the doorframe of Rhonda’s office, against walls, and under overturned desks. They were still very surrounded, and they still had to deal with an array of incoming paintballs, but at least the remaining four study group members could talk amongst themselves. 

“Does anyone else find it weird” Annie started, “that as soon as we made it to the Dean’s office the attack shifted from the Study Room to here?”

The members all nodded hesitantly as they thought about what Annie had just said. 

“Now that you mention it,” the Dean chimed in… “Ian and Neil did arrive waaay too soon for it to be a coincidence.”

Chang fiddled with his gun and avoided eye contact. “What are you implying, one of US was the mole?? Cuz that’s just preposterous…” 

Annie peaked out from behind the doorway, firing off a few rounds before returning to their conversation as Frankie spoke up. 

“Well, Chang HAS betrayed you guys on numerous occasions… at least according to what I’ve heard. Is it that illogical to think he sold us out for a cut on the cash prize?”  
Chang was almost in tears as he too peaked out from his position to fire a few pot shots at Vicki’s head. “I’m standing right here, you know!” 

Annie’s tone raised. “Yeah, and so are all of THEM!” She motioned to their assailants. “You gave us away, didn’t you?? You even knew where Burnette’s phone was in the study room!” 

The dean drew his pistol, and touched the nuzzle to their former Spanish teacher’s head. 

“I should kill you right now…” he threatened. Chang was hysterical now. “I didn’t do it! You have to believe me! Look, my phone even died an hour ago, how would I have given you guys away???”

The realization slapped Annie in the face, as it hit her that Chang was probably too dumb to know how to wear a wire. The dean’s gun wobbled in his hand. Behind them, they heard the faintest of “click” sounds, as they turned to see Frankie standing there with a paint grenade in one hand. And the pin in the other. A single tear dripped down her eye… 

“Sorry,” She whispered. “They paid my sister’s hospital bills…” 

“Frankie, NO!” 

The next few seconds happened in slow motion as Chang made a break for the bomb, tackling Frankie, smothering the grenade and shielding the remaining two from blast. After the detonation, Frankie and Chang were covered head to toe in paint, as the two fake-dead committee members got up to go home. 

“Chang, wait!” Annie heard herself shout. “Why did you save us?” The small man turned around, sorrow in his eyes. 

“To right my wrongs.” 

The two left, and it was now just Annie and the Dean. Outside the office, they heard the remaining students break cover and charge their encampment. Annie and Dean went back to back as they each trained a pistol at their respective door. Before they could even take aim, even more chaos erupted outside. The students began firing, but… not towards Annie or the Dean. It was in a 3rd direction. A 3rd party had entered the fight, and from the amount of Greendale Students dropping their guns and running, it was pretty clear these new guys meant business. Annie peered out from the doorway to see a surge of head-to-toe black soldiers mowing down whatever stood in their way as the new foes advanced swiftly on the office. Annie turned back to the Dean.

“It must be Burnette’s men! Quick, if we move now we can make it out of your office while the FBI and Students fight.” Annie moved towards the door, but noticed the Dean had stayed put. He had been hit by a ricochet bullet. 

“Go on, Annie, find Jeff. You two can still win this game. Tell Jeff that I… I…” The dean fake died, complete with limp collapse to the floor and all. Annie rolled her eyes and gathered up his gun and ammo, before slipping out the door. Behind her, she could hear the FBI guys bursting into the office, barking orders and reciting coordinates to each other. She took off down the hallway before they realized that there was still one Committee member not accounted for. She was on her own.


	6. Subzero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annie and Jeff both do their best to avoid detection.

Jeff slowly sauntered through the empty halls of Greendale. Debris was everywhere. The Human Being mascot whimpered and trotted past him, covered head to toe in an array of vibrant colors. The place was dead silent… Jeff kept his gun at the ready as his eyes scanned for anything suspicious. He crept near a corner, making sure his gun was full as he took a deep breath and sprang out from behind it, finding a paint rifle aimed right at his face. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Annie made sure her paint rifle was fully loaded as she hastily made her way through the abandoned Greendale halls. The lights flickered and the PA system bled static. It was downright eerie. She crept up to a corner, rifle in hand as she prepared to move. Was that footsteps? It definitely was, she thought. Oh well, someone else is going to regret the day they ran into Annie Edison. She turned the corner, only to find herself staring down the barrel of a paint pistol. 

“Annie.”

“Jeff.”

“You gonna put the gun down?”

“Maybe. You?”

“Possibly.”

“Are you the only one left?”

“Yep. You?”

“Yep.”

“Hmm. Abed was right.”

“Wait, Abed’s here?”

“It’s a long story. I’ll explain later.”

“Yeah, I’d say you have a bit of explaining to do.”

“I deserve that. Lower guns on 3?”

“Deal. 1… 2… 3”

They both dropped their weapons and maybe it was instinct or maybe she just really really missed him despite what he had done, but the two hugged. 

“This isn’t a forgiveness hug”, Annie scorned.

“I never thought it was,” he quipped as the two let go of each other. “So, get me up to speed.”

Annie sighed. “Long story short: Burnette knows where Troy is but won’t give us the information unless we beat him at paintball.”

“That's the most ridiculous thing i'v ever heard... you went along with it?”

Annie shuddered suddenly, and felt very cold as the memory of her relapse raced to the forefront of her mind. “It’s… complicated” she said as she fought back a tear. 

Jeff, sensing that the question had hit a nerve, grabbed her shoulders. “Hey. Look at me.”

She lifted her chin up to meet his gaze and a warmth spread over her and his eyes were like magic black marbles that told her everything was going to be okay and he was so  
damn cute when he was concerned and especially now that he was in full-fledged Jason Bourne mode he was downright charming and adorable and DAMN HIM FOR BEING  
ADORABLE WHEN SHE SHOULD REALLY REALLY REALLY HATE HIM RIGHT NOW.

“You don’t have to tell me anything. But you do need to survive. This game isn’t over yet…” As if to prove his point, a flurry of footsteps echoed throughout the halls as Jeff grabbed Annie and retreated around the corner. At least 20 of Burnette’s men trotted past a distant hallway, paintball guns now equipped with flashlights at the end. 

“We have to get out of here…” She muttered. “We have to find a place to survive. If we make it 24 hours, we win.”

Jeff shook his head no. “Annie the game has been going on for less than four hours. There’s no way we make it through the night undetected. We have to go on the offensive, and fast. Burnette’s got a lot of men and we need to kill them all if we want to find out where Troy is.”

“Jeff, there’s at least 100 of them! And two of us! And from what I saw in the Dean’s office, these guys are the best. I don’t think they even lost a man when they wiped out the student body.”

Jeff smirked in that trademark Winger way, and she hated that when he did that it made her feel safe, because she knew he had a plan.

“Follow me. Make sure that gun is loaded.” 

The twosome snaked their way through the school, avoiding patrols and remaining undetected. Eventually, they approached the school wing where Jeff’s old locker was located. 

She covered him as he worked the lock, opening and removing a jacket. He tossed it to Annie who was a tad puzzled. 

“Coat?”

He nodded while throwing on a sweater as the two once began jogging through the school. “Put it on. We’re going to the old A/C repair annex. But first…” Jeff said as he turned the corner and aimed his pistol at two of Burnette’s men talking casually while patrolling 30 yards away, “Let’s make ourselves known.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Burnette paced back and forth in the Study room, which had become his new makeshift command post. Around him his subordinates barked orders and made contact with the agents in the field. It was pure chaos, but from what scattered information they could gather, the Militia had been officially dealt with. The Dean’s office had fallen, and the Study Group had been wiped out. If Frankie’s bombing hadn’t done the trick, then his agents bum rushing the room certainly had. On the other side of the battlefield, a squad had made its way through the Greenhouse and found a detonated paint mine that had been planted earlier that day, so it was pretty safe to assume that this Winger character had been dealt with. Burnette felt satisfied. They were still waiting on official confirmation, but by all appearances he had won the day. And he hadn’t even lost a single man. 

“Move! I need to talk to Burnette!” the agent spun around to see Grisham elbowing his way through the command post’s hustle and bustle to report to him. He crisply saluted his lieutenant. 

“Report, Grisham.”

The lanky officer was breathing heavily, and removed his helmet and ski mask to reveal a face that screamed anything but success. For a second, Burnette’s smile faded. 

“What’s wrong, son? You took the office, didn’t you?”

The red headed officer nodded. 

“Then why are you upset?”

He gulped. “Sir, we only found evidence of… three bodies in the office. Edison got away in the confusion…”

Burnette slammed his fist on the table, sending a mug full of black coffee plummeting to the carpet. 

“She escaped??? How!” 

“We believe the Asian one smothered the bomb before it could kill everyone… We attacked from the north hallway, and she must’ve snuck out the side door while we were routing the Milita.”

Burnette felt a red hot burn in his chest as his hands formed into shaky fists. “Well, DO YOU KNOW WHERE SHE IS??”

Grisham nodded slightly. “Our forward scouts reported contact with two unknowns five minutes ago. One female, around 5 foot 3 inches, and a male standing at about 6 and a half feet. We lost contact with both scouts immediately after, but their last known position was right outside the old A/C Repair Annex. We believe the two fugitives have fled inside. The male… matches the description of Jeff Winger, the man who retreated into the greenhouse.”

Burnette screamed and swept every paper, map, radio, and coffee mug off the study room table with one clean arm stroke, sending it all crashing to the floor. 

He turned around, his face a bright red, and stuck a finger at Grisham. “You. You’re going to find them. Take as many men as you need, I don’t care. You’re going to find them and either KILL THEM OR BRING THEM TO ME! JUST. DO. IT.”

Grisham nodded fervently as he put the mask and helmet back on, then turned to two sergeants. “Both of you pick out our twenty best shooters and meet me at the entrance to  
the Annex in ten minutes.”

Burnette took a deep breath. Everything was under control. He would still have his victory. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jeff was right to grab her a coat, Annie thought as the two made their way through the old annex. Since it had been shut down, the old wing had apparently frozen over, and looked like that one snow planet from the Star Wars movie Abed made her watch once. Jeff for his part didn’t seem cold, but she knew he was probably just putting on a brave face like he always did. The two stepped cautiously through the old halls, making sure not to slip on any patches of ice. Icicles draped the ceiling, and the old lockers were now fringed with snow and frost, giving the entire place an eerie white glow. Mist was everywhere, and between that and the cloud that enveloped her head every time she breathed, Annie had almost lost Jeff a few times. 

“Jeff…” she shivered. “Wh-wh-why are we here again?” 

“Just trust me.”

She knew he had a plan, but his refusal to divulge any of it to her was… offputting to say the least. 

“Jeff, we need to get out of here, you’re going to freeze to death! Do our guns even work in here??”

“Annie, have I ever steered you wrong?”

“Do you really want to go there?”

“Point taken. Wait… do you hear that?” Annie listened. She heard distant footsteps, in almost every direction. Soldiers were calling out cadences and radioing their superiors in the distance, and they were approaching rapidly.

“That’s Burnette’s men! They followed us in here! And it sounds like there’s a lot of them…” 

Jeff turned to her and winked. “That’s what I was hoping for.”

“Huh???”

He held a finger to his mouth, and let out a gentle “Shh..” as he pulled her aside and the two ducked into a supply closet. She was still shuddering from the cold, and maybe it was the close quarters or maybe it was just her being FREEZING but she barreled herself into Jeff’s chest as he wrapped his hands around her and squeezed. As much as she hated herself for relying on the one guy who had broken her heart just a day ago, she had to admit she did feel warmer now… Damn his big arms, she thought. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Grisham and his men raced forwards through the icy white corridors of the A/C repair annex. Their guns, equipped with flashlights and laser sights, were held at the ready as they looked out for anything suspicious. The 40-man company reached a fork in the hallway, and split into two groups of 20. Grisham led one column down the left hall, while his two sergeants, Bernard and Colowicz took the right. The men surged forward. After a few minutes, they reached what they assumed was the old A/C cafeteria, an open area of about 50 yards by 50 yards. The men slowed to a walk as they spread into a triangle formation and pushed on. The room was encompassed by piles and piles of snow. It was quiet, besides for the sound of their boots crunching against the icy tiles beneath them. His lead patrolman, Jones, suddenly held up a hand that meant something looked suspicious, and the twenty all fell to a defensive crouch. 

“Jones! What do you see?”

The young man turned around slowly, then motioned for everyone to get back up. 

“False alarm, must’ve just been my shado-”

_Whoomp._

In almost slow motion, an explosion of yellow covered Jones’s face as Grisham frantically looked around to see several shadowy figures emerging from behind the icy fog. 

“Ambush! It’s an ambush! Find cover!” The junior officer shouted as a swarm of pellets crashed against him, the momentum taking him to the floor. He’d been shot… and his black uniform was now littered with yellow splotches. He looked around him to see his men in a panic, firing at random into the abyss as one by one they met the same fate he did. Some dropped their guns and tried to make a break, but they too were struck by a sea of oncoming paintballs. The last few had gone formed a defensive circle, going back to back to back before a canister landed at their feet and erupted, covering them all in yellow. 

The menacing figures emerged completely from the fog now, all dressed in white and wearing heavy winter clothing, complete with boots, gloves, and hoods lined with fur pulled over their heads. They donned white ski masks too, with Reflective ski goggles pulled down over their eyes to completely conceal their identities. In a matter of seconds, these men had wiped out 20 well trained FBI agents. The lead one approached Grisham, and speaking into a voice distorter, hissed “Go”. The Agents obliged, and filed out of the annex. Most of them were just thankful to get out of the ungodly cold. On their way out, they came across the other column of FBI agents, the one led by Bernard and Colowicz. They were all covered in paint as well. 

“So should we… tell Burnette what happened?” 

“Hell no, I’m not breaking this to that guy. The dude’s insane.” 

“Fair enough. Do you guys wanna all come over for the NBA Finals tonight?” 

“I’m game.” 

“Sure.” 

“Go Cavs.” 

And with that, the 40 incapacitated men made their way out of the Annex, out of Greendale, and back to the real world. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

Jeff held his ear to the door and listened to the soldiers file by. Judging from the disgruntled sounds of their voices… they were all dead. It had gone according to plan. 

“Are we okay now??” Annie asked as the last of the voices faded away. 

“I think so. Here, let’s go.” Jeff rattled open the door and stepped back out into the icy halls, only to see himself and Annie surrounded by fifteen men or so, all dressed in white and looking like they were prepared for a blizzard. They all held their guns at waist level, aimed on them as Jeff held out an arm to corral Annie behind him. Even though it was a game and there was no REAL danger present, it was almost second nature for him to protect Annie at all costs. 

The one ski guy standing a little bit ahead of the rest lowered his gun and approached Jeff. He and the rest of the men removed their masks and Jeff recognized many of them from the School yearbook. It was the A/C repairmen. Russo, the leader, had been the one to address Jeff. 

“You two are the friends of Troy, the true repairman?” He inquired. 

“Yeah,” Jeff nodded. 

“Then you may go. Go and find our messiah, and make sure he is safe.” 

“Thanks for the help,” he muttered as the ensemble of repairmen looked on. 

“Before you do though, you should know. Burnette has his command center in Study Room F. Your old study room. He has approximately 60 men left, and they’re everywhere. Be careful.” 

“Will do,” he replied as him and Annie made their way to the part of Greendale with regular temperature. 

“How did they know all that stuff?” Annie asked under her breath. Jeff shrugged. 

“Something Troy told me once, that wherever there is air, the A/C repairman have eyes. And now we know where Burnette is.” 


	7. Juggernaut

“Has anyone talked to Grisham??? ANYONE???”

The rest of the study room/command post went quiet. One guy with glasses, sitting on a computer gingerly raised his hand.

“We… lost contact with them as soon as they entered the Annex. No one’s seen or heard of them since. Sir, we should probably pull them out, it’s freezing in there, and those two runaways are as good as dead if they choose to ride it out in what essentially is an industrial sized freezer.”

Burnette walked over to the nerdy man, and leaned into his face. 

“I. Want. Bodies. We do not stop until we have eliminated these two.”

Behind him, the sea had parted as a private scrambled into the study room. He was panting heavily and collapsed on the floor. His hair was covered in frost and ice, and his face was beet-red. 

Burnette turned around to see this pathetic excuse for a field agent cowering in front of him.

“Private! Report!”

The man struggled to get up on a knee, and shook the ice off his face.

“Are you from Grisham’s company? Where are they??”

“De-de-de-dead… Sir.”

His heart and all the other functions in his body ground to a halt.

“Dead???”

The private nodded timidly. “All of them…”

Burnette eyed the soldier, who despite looking like absolute hell, had managed to avoid getting shot by a single paintball.

“Well, not all of them apparently” Burnette deadpanned as he drew his pistol and unloaded into the underling.

He turned around and pointed to a random agent. “You. You’re my new 2nd in command. How many do we have left?”

“Roughly 55 men.”

Tell our forces to fall back to the library perimeter. And call in the van.”

The man swallowed hard. “The… van, sir?”

“Did I stutter?”

All around the campus, Burnette’s men began a tactical retreat to the library, establishing a perimeter and creating a defense so strong it would take a small army to breach it. Every window and door was occupied by heavily armed agents, every hallway was patrolled by men with paint shotguns, and the roof was crawling with guys armed with binoculars and paint grenade launchers. In the study room, Burnette and his personal bodyguard of 10 men stood at the ready. Was he being paranoid? Perhaps. But he knew damn well that he did not want to get in the crossfire of what was about to transpire. His radio chirped, and rooftop scout reported that the two black unmarked vans had arrived in the parking lot. 

“Where were Edison and Winger spotted last?” He asked.

“The cafeteria, sir.” 

“Tell the van to drive to the cafeteria loading docks. They can deploy their… cargo there.”

“Yes sir.”

He chuckled to himself smugly. These two wanted to play war? Sure, let’s give them a war. They thought they were cute because they had used some party tricks to bring down a couple of his guys, but he knew they were in no way prepared for what was about to hit them. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Across campus, the lumbering unmarked black van pulled into the loading dock ramps behind the cafeteria. The driver and passenger ran to the dock’s stairs, unlocked their trunk, and pulled open the twin doors to peer inside: Since the cargo portion of the van wasn’t equipped with any lights, seeing inside was nearly impossible. They squinted, and they could just barely decipher the outline of two massive men sitting on a bench, facing them from their spot against the van’s back wall.

“Aye fellas. It’s go time,” the driver stated, as the things put their hands on their knees and forced themselves onto their feet. They stepped forward as the driver and his navigator cowered back, and the two things jumped out of the van. The Thump when they hit the ground knocked both driver and passenger off their feet as they reached back inside the van to retrieve their enormous weapons. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jeff and Annie holed up behind the counter in Shirley’s Sandwiches and a spray of paintballs flew overhead. They’d been chased to the cafeteria, and figured here was as good a place as any to camp out and pick off these sorry agents one by one. They’d stolen some of the FBI paintball guns when they’d left the Annex, and boy were these things sweet. 

He turned to Annie, who was reloading her rifle. 

“You done?” he quipped with a raised eyebrow. She punched him in the shoulder. 

“Don’t rush me. And yes, I’m done.”

He snickered. “Ok, let’s do this. Milady?”

She looked up at him, still skeptical and probably still very, very mad at him, but they were the only two left so what choice did she have to stomach him for now.

“Milord.”

The two came up from behind cover, and picked off a few more of the SWAT agents in quick succession before ducking back down. Well, Annie ducked down anyway. Jeff peered  
out from his perch curiously.

“Hmm.”

He could hear Annie’s voice from below him. “What do you mean ‘hmm’? Take cover Jeff!”

He glanced down at her. “They’re… retreating, it looks like.”

Her big blue eyes looked utterly perplexed as she glanced up at him. “Retreating??”

He couldn’t really wrap his mind around it either. “Yeah… after we downed that last guy, they just kinda… fell back.”

She put a hand to the counter and forced herself up too, peering out into the empty cafeteria.

“Weird…” she muttered.

“Yeah, like I know we were kicking ass, but… this felt a lot more like a last stand than anything else. I mean they had us completely outnumbered, not to mention surrounded…”

A smile slid onto Annie’s face almost involuntarily. “Well, maybe we scared ‘em off. I mean it WAS pretty cool how you caught that paint grenade and threw it back over the counter…”

He felt his chest inflate with pride just a tad as he processed her compliment. “Not as cool as you using the lunch tray as a shield on the way over here.”

Her eyes lost that edge that she had maintained all day, and for the first time in a long time, he was looking into that soft sea of blue that he’d been longing for since that fateful day in the study room before she left for DC. 

He felt her shift closer… “We make a pretty good team, don’t we?”

“Yeah,” he felt himself utter, “We do.”

And for a second all he wanted to do was wrap his arms around her waist, pick her up and kiss her like she’s never been kissed before. He to explore every inch of her and lay her down on the counter and-

No. He couldn’t. Not now, at least. 

He held up a hand as he felt the tip of Annie’s finger brush his belt. 

“Annie… We can’t…”

He could see her suddenly snap out of it and pull away.

“I don’t deserve to kiss you,” he continued. Her face hardened again as he assumed she’d just recalled what had happened the day before.

“No, you’re absolutely right. You really don’t. I just got… caught up in the moment. That’s all.”

He sighed and nodded. He wanted to bang his head on the counter of Shirley’s sandwiches a thousand times over as self-punishment but even that wouldn’t be enough, he knew. He knew what he had to do. 

“I owe you an apology… and an explanation.”

“I’m listening.”

He scratched the back of his head and tried to look into her eyes but they had once again turned to steely defiance. 

“I thought you were never coming back.” He stated flatly. 

Her eyes fell for a second and it seemed like her breath left her briefly before she replied. 

“Jeff… It was a three month internship”

He held up a hand. “No. Can I have this one please?”

She nodded slightly. 

“We both know that this three month internship is the start of something great for you. Okay? I mean, chances are you would’ve returned in August, but what if you didn’t?? What if they offered you an extension or a full time job or what if you started going to school there? Is it that so far out of the question?”

He saw a single tear building up in her left eye. 

“And even if you did return in August, we all know Greendale is just too small for you. You’re destined for greatness, Annie Edison. And this God-forsaken hell hole can only rob you of it for so long.” 

He hesitated. “…I could only rob you of it for so long. I'm-I’m… broken, Annie. I’m a broken man, and I’m going to stay broken until the day God has enough mercy on me to book me a room next to Pierce in the sky, where we can… I don’t know, hit on Marilyn Monroe together.”

She laughed ever so slightly, but her eyes… they looked so full of sadness. 

He stared at the floor, but his gaze took him a million miles past it. 

“I missed you so much…” He heard himself croak almost in disbelief. When he looked up, she was right in front of him, and she grabbed his hand so gently it almost haunted him.

“I missed you too."

His eyes shot up in shock.

“Jeff, when the FBI gave me a week off and a ticket back to Denver, the first thing I thought of was you… Not Troy, or my interview or my internship. It was you. All i wanted to do was see you and wrap myself up in you and do... well, maybe do something not as PG with you, But when Slater opened the door to your apartment…”

The sentence was said softly, but each word carried enough weight to knock him cold, and he all of a sudden felt very alone as the room spun around him.

“It broke me, too. Because I realized that even though I had moved on from Greendale temporarily, nothing was keeping you from moving on from me… All this time I just made a rash assumption that your life would be put on pause for the three months I was gone and when I got back we could hit play... but in all my naivety I forgot that when someone leaves... sometimes life moves on. And then I thought about how Slater and you left things all those years ago and how it was in part because of me, and... I felt insignificant. I felt I had been a roadblock in something… bigger than myself, you know?”

He used his free hand to lift her chin up.

“Annie, when you got to my apartment, I had just broken up with Michelle.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The words hit her like a sledgehammer. And all of a sudden she was in a daze… Jeff took a step towards her and gazed into her eyes like she was the only thing that mattered.

“I… in all of MY naivety thought you were moving on forever and I tried to avoid the hurt by cutting off the pain and the heartache at the pass, and jumping ship before I had a chance to crash and burn. And in a moment of slightly tipsy weakness I thought it wouldn’t hurt to rehash things with Slater. But it lasted maybe a week? We got drinks once, had dinner once, and didn’t even…”

“Sleep together?” Annie said hopefully, even if the words felt like vinegar coming out of her mouth.

Jeff chuckled and inched closer. “Annie, we didn’t even kiss. I don’t even know if what we did classified as dating or… giving her closure five years too late. She wasn’t you. No one could ever be you… But I can’t be the one to hold you back so if my being alone is the only way to make sure you reach your full potential then… fuck it. I can nut up and die alone.”

And there it was, she thought as a million pounds of baggage and heartbreak was lifted instantly. She felt like she should at the very least be anchored to the ground or something, because if not then she very well may have floated away.

“Jeff, I don’t WANT to go anywhere if you’re not there. I don’t want to be that woman who always puts a career first and ends up 50 years old with nothing but a fancy title and a lump of money to show for it. I don’t want to be that weird Aunt who goes to holiday parties alone and gets asked by nieces and nephews why she isn’t married or doesn't even have a boyfriend. Yeah I want to be successful, and yes I want to see the world, but…”

She leaned in, and they were probably as close as two people could get without kissing.

“But I want someone to see it with me.”

The words had barely left her mouth before his head made the one inch trek and met with her lips, and she slid her hands around his back as he cradled her chin with one hand and slid has hands around her waist with the other. Their lips and teeth crashed together and their tongues danced intricately around each other and everything was perfect once again. When she had left their kiss had been gentle and heartfelt but this... this was passionate and emotional and the release of an ungodly amount of sexual tension. It wasn't a goodbye kiss or a bashful peck or even an off-book kiss to win debate. It was the kiss they'd always wanted, and it was perfect. 

It was almost so perfect that they forgot they were in the middle of the Greendale cafeteria; In the middle of a paintball game. It was almost so perfect they'd ignored the lumbering black van that had driven past the cafeteria window. And Annie could have sworn she’d just heard something very, very heavy hit the ground… She put the make out session on hold, mouth and lips and tongue freezing in place as her eyes shot open. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She had stopped kissing him, which kinda sucked because he was enjoying it immensely… Before he could ask if something is wrong, she lifted her hand and covered his mouth.

“Shh,” he felt her hiss. “Do you hear that??”

He listened closely, and removed Annie’s hand from its position on his face. Jeff looked out around him, and saw the counter rattling ever so slightly. He could hear it now… thumping. Like footsteps, but… slower. Heavier. And getting louder. From the sounds of it, it seemed like there was more than one… Across the cafeteria, the double doors began shaking fervently as someone… something… marched down the halls towards them. He grabbed Annie’s shoulder and pushed her down a little bit, as they both crouched behind the counter and used the laser sights on their confiscated FBI guns to take aim at whatever was about to come through those doors. 

Wait was that Garrett?

Their odd classmate sprinted (more like waddled) from the halls, screaming “RUN FOR YOUR LIFE! THE DESTROYERS ARE COMING!!!” As he exited out the cafeteria’s side door. 

Behind him, the thumping continued. 

_Thump._

_Thump._

_Thump._

_Thump._

_Thump._

 

 

And just when he thought these thumps couldn’t get any louder…. The doors burst open. Jeff really wished they hadn’t, though. 

They were massive. They were ominous. They looked eerily similar to the Bomb Suit guy from Hurt Locker, or the Juggernauts from Call of Duty. The armor must have been at least 100 pounds of lead and Kevlar, and made whoever was inside them completely invulnerable to anything from the outside world. The dense lead padding must have been at a minimum eight inches thick, Jeff thought. The men inside wore matte black blast helmets with a huge tinted visor pulled down over their entire faces, and a giant lead strap wrapped around their suit collars covered any skin on the neck that may have been exposed otherwise. Essentially every inch of these people was protected. They were like big, fat, walking tanks, and in their hands they donned guns similar to the one City College had in the ice cream van during the Star Wars paintball fight. If Jeff remembered correctly, those things could fire at LEAST ten paintballs a second. 

As if to confirm his suspicion, the two walking fortresses unleashed a barrage of paintballs Shirley’s sandwiches that doused the entire shop in mere moments. Jeff and Annie both managed to duck before the incoming hailstorm of pellets hit home, but now they were trapped behind the counter. The whirring of the automatic weapons got closer and closer, and it didn’t take a genius to realize that at this rate the two monstrous FBI agents would be on top of them in a matter of seconds. 

Jeff had NOT come this far to lose like this. 

He grabbed Annie’s hand and urgently crawled to the back of the shop, where he used a towel to open the paint covered knob to the back door. Paintballs showered against the back of the shop, so the two grabbed trays to shield themselves from any residue as he pulled open the door and ushered Annie inside. He followed, stealing a glance at the cafeteria to see the Juggernauts mere feet from the Sandwich Shop. He closed the door right before one of the things unloaded a gallon of paint on the door.


	8. Underground

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeff and Annie weather whatever Agent Burnette can throw their way, preparing for an offensive of their own in the meantime.

The two ran through the cafeteria back room, past stoves and freezers, prep tables and deep-fryers. Behind her, she could hear the door to Shirley’s sandwiches being knocked off its hinges. 

“Over here!” Jeff shouted as Annie felt her hand being grabbed. He opened a door, and the twosome were back in the Greendale halls. She could hear the… big things behind her, struggling to navigate through the cramped Greendale kitchen. 

Her and Jeff turned a corner and rested against the lockers. “They don’t do great in tight spaces.”

Jeff was panting pretty heavily now, but nodded in agreement. “Wait, they’re sitting ducks in the kitchen, why don’t we just shoot them? I mean they’re WEARING their armor, so doesn’t it just count as clothes???”

Jeff turned the corner confidently and was about to make his way back to the kitchen but Annie acted quicker, grabbing her friend (actually she didn’t know what to call him right now…) and pulling him back.

“No, that’s what they WANT us to think…”

Jeff srunched his eyebrows. “Huh?”

Annie pulled out her phone. “I downloaded the Federal Paintball Association’s manual onto my phone as a PDF while we were barricaded in the study room.”

Jeff rolled his eyes, “only you…”

She unsuccessfully fought a smile from creeping across her face and hit his shoulder with the back of her hand. “Shut up. But look at this… it’s in fine print on the very last page. 

"It says that armor more than six inches thick, weighing over 90 pounds, and worn over a player’s standard protective clothing is considered to be a shield and therefore does not apply as a part of said player’s vulnerable space.”

Jeff hit a locker with his gun. “So shooting them in the chest is like shooting a riot shield.”

“Essentially,” Annie confirmed. 

From around the corner, he could hear the thumping resume as the two juggernauts had burst out of the kitchen and were now down the hall. 

“And I’m not saying we should hurry per say, but… they’re right around the corner.” Annie stated as she eyed the dented locker and got an idea.

“You wouldn’t happen to remember where the Locker Boys hid out during the Hot Lava game, would you?”

Jeff shrugged. “Yeah, I think so. Why?”

“Because I need you to buy me some time.” 

Jeff’s gun was damaged from his bashing it against the locker, so he dropped it and drew his two pistols. 

“I’ll give you as long as you need. Meet you there?” 

She smiled dumbly. “Yeah, I’ll meet you there.” She turned to run down the hallway, but hadn’t made it more than a foot when she felt something tug at her wrist. She spun around to see Jeff there, and he pulled her in for another kiss, deep and passionate as his gun-toting hand wrapped around the small of her back. She pushed him away slightly and he stared at her for a second and she really just wanted to faint in his arms so she could wake up and see those eyes staring at her in a hospital bed for hours on end. But she had a job to do. So she giggled and pecked him on the nose, before he let her go and she smiled at him mischievously before sprinting away. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jeff stared at the woman of his dreams retreating through the halls, all business but just the right amount of pleasure. Then he turned back around, and took aim as the two juggernauts turned the corner. He took a couple of shots at them before turning in a dead sprint and racing to the closest adjacent hallway. He slid around a corner, panting and reloading as the two hulking FBI guys surged forward, sending short bursts of paintballs his way. He peered around the corner and took a few more shots at the neck area of the armor, shots that could not have had less of an effect. Crap, he thought as he readied himself and made another short sprint to the nearest cover. 

Once again, a trail of paintballs followed him but never quite caught up as he made it behind the trophy case containing the school’s one debate trophy. The bomb suits were big and heavy, so he was sure walking in them wasn’t the easiest thing. It certainly wasn’t the fastest, as they were more than a couple steps from turning the corner to face him. He pulled out his phone during the rare lull in action. 

_Where Are You? –Annie Edison, 8:16 PM._

_By the trophy case. Bad guys still catching up. Jeff Winger, 8:17 PM._

_Perfect. Hide at the end of the hall. It’s a dead end but you can take cover behind the overturned cabinet. Annie Edison, 8:17 PM._

_Where will you be? Jeff Winger, 8:17 PM._

_That’s a surprise ;) Annie Edison, 8:18 PM._

Jeff grinned to himself as he pocketed his phone. Thing 1 and Thing 2 were still seconds away, so he ran and jumped behind the cabinet, standing tall as the two juggernauts saw him and began to unload. He hit the deck, and not a second too soon. They were giving him everything they had, and he couldn’t do much but just sit back and hope Annie had everything under control. He took out a pocket mirror and held it up over his heads to look through the reflection. Behind him, he saw the two monstrous body suits almost right on top of the cabinet, and he prepared himself for what was sure to be the most painful way to ever be knocked out of a paintball game. 

But then he saw a flurry of action from behind the juggernauts. Annie had burst out from a locker just a few feet behind the lumbering giants, and paintball gun in hand climbed on top of a desk and leapt on the shoulders of the first big guy. Jeff could see her fiddling with the back of the helmet, eventually unlatching the tether that locked the helmet to the rest of the suit. The armored agent tried desperately to flail his arms and knock Annie off, but she held firm. 

Next to him, the other guy in the bomb suit cumbersomely tried to lift his Gatling gun up to take a shot at Annie. But he was too late. Annie grabbed the helmet and threw it off the massive shoulders, before diving off Burnette’s now exposed agent. Jeff sprang out from behind the cabinet, took aim, and shot a paintball into the back of the agent’s exposed head. But that still left one heavily armored soldier to deal with, and he was slowly readjusting to take aim at Annie, now on the floor. Yelling at the top of his lungs, Jeff charged the 300 pound monstrosity, lowered a shoulder, and threw all of his weight into it as he crashed into Thing 2. The momentum was enough to send the last agent careening to the ground as Annie spun out of the way. The thing thudded against the floor, and Annie was quick to her feet as she lifted up the helmet visor to reveal a terrified face. Jeff stuck his gun to the guy’s forehead.

“Unless you want to be shot in the face like your friend, I suggest tell us where Burnette is.”

The agent looked up at Jeff. “Fine, fine. Him and the remaining fifty guys are in the library... But there’s no way you’re getting in there. That place is locked up like Fort Knox. The only thing that could get you guys in there is… Well, these,” the agent finished.

“Take off the suits.”

“Sure, whatever these aren’t even ours….” The other agent chimed in before turning to his compatriot. 

“Aye Bruce, can you give me a ride to Grisham’s? I heard he’s having people over for the NBA Finals.”

Jeff and Annie helped the two FBI agents out of their suits, about to shoot the remaining one in the leg before the radio crackled.

“Destroyer One, this is Hawk’s Nest. Have you eliminated Bonnie and Clyde yet?”

Hmm, Jeff thought. Bonnie and Clyde was fitting, and the smirk sliding across Annie’s face as she registered the nickname seconded his notion. But they’d have to save the admiration of their new name for another time. Jeff turned back to the guy standing over the Juggernaut suit, pulling his gun.

“Tell him you got us.”

The man nodded. 

“This is Destroyer 1, Bonnie and Clyde have been incapacitated in the Language Wing. Awaiting further orders.”

“Okay, we’re sending a squad to confirm. Hold tight.”

The radio went dead, and Jeff shot the agent in the foot to officially eliminate him for the game. 

“Thanks for the help,” Jeff offered.

“Didn’t do it for you. Burnette’s delusional… Someone’s gotta stop him.”

And with that, the two men who 10 minutes ago had occupied the death suits left Greendale. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Burnette paced his stronghold in the Library, awaiting any word from his squad who had set out to find the two Destroyers in the Language Wing. He wanted nothing more than to jump up and shout in triumph, as he was absolutely certain he had taken the day. But he had to be absolutely sure. 

“Hawks nest,” he barked into his radio. “Any eyes on the squad?”

“Negative.”

Damn, he thought. The suspense was killing him… Nothing today could just go as planned, he thought as he began pacing the room again. He was so lost in thought he failed to notice his radio chirping, or a slightly heightened level of activity in the library. 

“Agent Burnette!”

“Agent Burnette!”

“AGENT BURNETTE!” 

He snapped out of it, responding to the radio call from his agents on the roof. “WHAT???”

“We’ve been breached!” His body almost went into shock at the news. Then he began to notice it all… A few agents ran past, shouting frantically as they loaded their weapons and made their way outside. Coming from outside were another stream of agents covered in paint and limping their way back INTO the library. In the Library Courtyard, the sounds of paintball guns and desperate screaming were heard against the roar of two automatic machine guns.

“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON???” He he cried.

“Its… the DESTROYERS! They’ve eradicated all forward defesnes outside the library!”

A chill shot down his spine as he realized he’d been outfoxed. Annie and Jeff had killed his Juggernauts and were using the suits. It was all over... he could feel his castle crumbling around him. Unless... yeah, that could work, he thought. He wasn’t completely out of moves. If these two wanted him, they were going to have to do a hell of a lot more than this. He turned to his 10 man security detail. 

“Follow me. We’re going to the basement.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The pillared library entrance was absolute chaos, but inside this helmet it was actually almost… serene, Jeff thought as him and Annie slowly walked forward in their new hulking black wardrobes. A sea of paintballs exploded all around him, but it could not have bothered him less. He held down on the trigger of the gatling gun and gently moved it from left to right, like he was watering a garden. The two of them were hosing down Burentte’s men left and right, covering their once black combat fatigues with bright shades of green, blue, yellow, and red. 

Next to him, Annie had taken it upon herself to eliminate the agents on the rooftops, who were painstakingly throwing grenades down on them but to no avail. Pretty quickly, the entirety of the library defense was torn apart, as agents covered in paint helped each other up and walked dejectedly back to their SUV’s. When Jeff and Annie got to the library entrance, however, they noticed that Burnette was not amongst them. Jeff lifted his visor, and did another scan of the premises. 

“Dammit! He’s not here…”

Annie, who had lifted up her visor as well, didn’t seem incredibly pleased either. 

“Where did he go?” She asked. 

“Hell if I know.”

“Damn… We put on these big old things for nothing… It’s hot and heavy and stuffy in here and I seriously think my body is about to just collapse in on itself…”

“We’re almost there, I promise…” He assured her, then caught movement in the library. An unscathed agent was trying to belly crawl away, but when he turned to see both Jeff and Annie aiming at guns him, he froze in place, petrified.

“Shoot me in the foot please! Not the face! Never the face!” He squealed.

“Tell us where Burnette is and I’ll consider it.”

“He’s in the library basement! Him and his bodyguards took the elevator down like a minute ago!”

“Thanks,” Said Jeff halfheartedly as he shot the agent in the foot. In the distance, he saw the Human Being and the guy who he had saved at his gym three years ago. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Burnette and his last few men all had their guns drawn, pointing at the elevator from their positions amongst the basement’s old textbooks and dusty computers. Above them, they heard the roar of the Gatling guns and the shouting of his men, desperate to get away from a most certain elimination from the game. And all too quickly, it resumed back to quiet as Burnette assumed the worst. 

Overhead he could hear the two Destroyers both slowly making their way to the elevators, and that’s exactly where Burnette and his men would finish them off once these doors opened. Two men crouched on either side of the elevator with grenades, ready to slip them inside the bomb suits once the door opened and the two survivors walked out. Burnette and the remaining eight stood on the opposite end of the library basement with guns drawn, ready to serve as the perfect distraction. They heard the elevator moving up from the basement storage room, stalling at the ground level before slowly crawling down with its deadly new cargo. Ten seconds later, a DING echoed throughout the room and the doors slid open. Winger and Edison, both in their bomb apparel didn’t even have a chance to get out before they were smothered with paint from every direction. Burnette’s two men jumped out from behind the elevator and shoved the paint grenades in the crease between the lead suits and helmets, diving out of the way as the paint exploded everywhere and Winger and Edison were sent stumbling back into the elevator. 

“I got you suckers!” Burnette shrieked as he pranced forward. “You’re dead! You’re dead! Now pay up if you want to see your friend again!” He ran up to the bomb suits and was about to taunt them some more when he lifted one of the visors and came to a grim realization…

Winger and Edison weren’t inside the suits. It was some guy in a white morphsuit with a smiley face etched on it. The other guy proclaimed frantically that he was some guy from Jeff’s gym, whatever the hell that meant. It had been a trap… From behind Burnette, he heard a door burst open, and immediately the two officers at his side were taken out by what he realized were the REAL Edison and Winger. He grabbed a fallen agent’s gun and made a run for it as his remaining men dealt with the Greendale student and teacher. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Annie and Jeff, now back in their regular clothes, burst through the door that connected Borchert’s lab basement to the library basement just in time, walking in to see Burnette standing over the Bomb suit decoys. They took out the two officers flanking the head agent, turning their attention on the rest as Burnette made a break for the library corridors. 

“Jeff!” Annie called out, “I think Burnette’s getting away!”

“Go after him!” I got these guys!”

“Are you sure??” 

He winked. “Of course. It’s not like I haven’t done this before.”

Annie sprinted after Burnette while Jeff sprang up to disarm an agent who was hovering above him. He knocked out the gun, and shoved the guy forward as a trio of paintball shots splattered against his human decoy’s vest. He drew his own weapon and moved around in a crouch, using the old books, dust, and hardware for cover. Winger rounded a corner to see two agents shooting at where Jeff had been a minute ago, and unloaded on them before they could readjust. From there, he grabbed a paintball rifle, set it to automatic, and let loose a burst that took care of the remaining five who had clumped together in the middle of the basement. 

“Thanks for playing, don’t forget to tip your waitresses,” he uttered as he ran down the hallway Annie had chased Burnette through. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Annie gingerly crept through the basement corridors, turning every corner and checking every closet. There was no sign of Burnette anywhere, though. Annie had left every stone unturned and this guy was STILL getting away. The familiar feeling of defeat filled Annie’s heart as she solemnly prepared to kiss her internship goodbye. 

At least, until a loud clang echoed behind her, and she turned to see the shifty FBI agent had knocked over a toolbox while trying to slip out of the room. She drew her gun.

“Don’t. Even. Think about it,” She spat.

Burnette threw his hands in the air, but as he turned around he was laughing. Laughing???

Behind Annie, Jeff had burst into the room and was now at her side. 

“What’s he laughing about...” He asked slowly, a little creeped out by Burnette’s hysteria. 

“You fools… you’ve wasted an entire day and torn up your entire school, and guess what?? With no written agreement, there’s absolutely nothing that requires me to do ANYTHING for you! I’m still sending my little discovery to Quantico! And you’re still not going to find your friend Troy!”

She felt the gun wobble in her hand as her body got very, very cold all of a sudden…

“Annie, what the hell is he saying?”

Annie broke down. “He’s got blackmail on me…” She shivered, as she dropped her gun to her side.

“What do you mean?”

“When we all graduated… and we all stopped talking, I got hooked on pills again. It was just- the new job was stressful we all had fallen out of touch and I had no one to turn to and the samples were right in front of me every day and god dammit they ruined my life again!” She was in a full on sob now as Jeff reflexively wrapped his arms around her. 

“Sh, Annie you’re going to be okay… It’s going to be fine. Don’t worry about anything….”

Annie looked up at him, her mascara and tears staining his sweater. “How can you say that???” she blurted out, lip quivering uncontrollably. Jeff let go of her and turned to the conniving little prick standing in the doorway. 

“Because of this,” Jeff proclaimed mugly as he pulled out his cell phone and set it to speaker.

“Hey, Russo it’s Jeff. Thanks again for saving us in the A/C Repair Wing today.”

“No problem Jeff, anything for a friend of Troy.”

“Well I was wondering if you could do one more thing…”

“Anything within reason.”

Annie saw a smug grin creep across Jeff’s face.

“Fair enough. So tell me Russo, do you have the… Security footage from today, would you?”

“Depends on what you want… we got, uh, FBI vehicles and personnel blocking fire escapes, FBI agents vandalizing State of Colorado property with various paint-filled projectiles, a recording of one Agent Harold Burnette promising FBI funds to the Greendale student body and faculty, Two combat-tested FBI Bomb Suits being utilized for a non bomb-diffusing situation, ironic I may add considering that the FBI Denver office just reported two Bomb Suits missing this morning… Did I mention that all 100 agents were on the clock today?”

Burnette’s eyes shot open as he exclaimed “We turned off the security cameras! There’s no way! You’re bluffing!”

“Well, you don’t obviously know Greendale Agent Burnette, because anybody who knows Greendale knows that… Annie, care to fill in the rest?”

“Wherever there’s air, the A/C Repair School has eyes!” She exclaimed, reciting what Jeff said earlier in the day.

“That’s absolutely right Annie,” Russo said through the phone. “The A/C Repair school, while still currently integrated with the rest of Greendale, still maintains its own security system, completely separate from the Greendale model and impervious to Burnette’s feeble attempt at covering his tracks.”

“Thanks for that, Russo. Could you go ahead and forward that all to my Greendale email please?”

“With pleasure, Winger.”

Jeff hung up the phone, as Annie looked at him gratefully, never more thankful that absolutely no one could out-craft or out-manipulate Jeff Winger. He had saved her, and probably Troy too. She really didn’t know what she could ever do to repay him, although maybe a was a kiss was in line... But right now she had one more thing to take care of.

She whipped around, and shot Burnette in the back of the head as the pathetic excuse for a human being tried (and failed) to turn tail and run away.

“NOOOOOOOOOOO!” He shouted as Jeff and Annie approached him. 

Burnette composed himself, and spoke back up. “Fine,” he shuddered through a few stray tears. 

“I’ll tell you anything you want to know about Troy, just… PLEASE don’t tell anyone about this. I’d lose my job… and we’d be absolutely destroyed on the paintball message boards if they found out we lost to a…. community college!”

“Just tell us where he is,” Annie commanded.

“Troy Barnes and LeVar Burton are safe. They’re in the Bahamas… their boat’s rudder broke a week into their trip and the Bahaman coast guard picked them up and took them ashore. A friend in the US Embassy found out they were there and we launched a scheme to make some cash off LeVar. I pulled some strings to put them both up in a luxury hotel where they’ve been living the past year, telling them they were wanted by, I don’t know, terrorists or something. They both were told to grew beards for disguises and that any contact with their past lives would endanger them and everyone they knew. We made the Bahamas SO nice and made the ocean sound SO bad that they could never even think about leaving. I’m the one who filed the report about piracy and stuff... you know, as a misdirect. That’s why it’s a dead end. But if you promise to keep that footage all to yourselves I can have them both on a plane back here tomorrow. So… can I go now???” Burnette begged. 

“Sure,” Jeff spat. “Just once you use those strings to buy US four plane tickets to the Bahamas and put us up in LeVar’s hotel.”

Annie’s eyes widened. “What??”

Jeff turned to her with that trademark grin. “I think Abed and Britta are going to want to see this. Plus… you got 6 days of vacation left! Let’s live a little. I think we’ve all earned it, Bonnie.” He drawled, saying the last part in a bit of a southern accent.

"Jeff, i don't think Bonnie and Clyde had southern accents..."

"Shhhhhhh...."


	9. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The carnage of the 4th Paintball War is over, and the original four take a much needed vacation to finish their search for Troy

The foursome walked through the gate of Grand Bahama International Airport, luggage in tow as they scanned the sea of tourists for their best friend. After a few minutes, they spotted him in his sailors cap, button down floral pattern shirt, and pastel swim trunks waiting alongside the Star Trek actor. The reunited study group embraced in a tearful group hug, every member ecstatic to see their long lost friend once again. 

The ride back to their hotel was full of tall tales and filling each other in on what Troy had missed, including the paintball game that got them here and the conspiracy to keep Troy and LeVar’s whereabouts a secret. Troy filled in the blanks, explaining how the FBI had said they were “in danger” and given these luxury penthouse rooms to stay in until the danger had passed. They were also instructed to not tell a soul what had happened to them. So Troy and LeVar decided to not complain and enjoyed their time in paradise.   
The next few days resulted in the group letting off some much needed steam, and in the spirit of vacation Jeff and Annie decided that it was probably best not to have “the talk” until the trip was winding down or they had some alone time. They were content just being around each other in paradise, not to mention there was so much to do in the Bahamas it was kind of hard to find a lull in the action. That was, until one day when Jeff managed to catch Troy when he wasn’t glued to Abed’s hip, and he sauntered over with two coronas. Troy thanked him after Jeff had plopped down in the lawn chair next to him, and the two looked out over the royal blue of the ocean. Behind them, Annie Britta and Abed laughed and had drinks at the bar. 

“So…” He began. “Where to from here, man?”

Troy just shook his head. “I honestly have no idea. Full disclosure… I was kind of glad when the FBI told us we wouldn’t be able to sail for a year.”

“Why?” 

“I don’t know… I think part of me felt like… I didn’t have what it took to sail around the world and I was so afraid of failure... And so afraid of you all judging me for my failure, that I never took the chance. Like the odds were so stacked against us that I just felt like it wasn’t even worth a try. Truth is, the Bahamas got old for me real quick, Jeff. It’s fun now that you guys are here, but… for a while it was pretty boring. It was cool, but it wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted to go for it, but I was afraid of what would happen if it didn’t work out… or worse, what if it did? What if it went as planned and I had to make an actual commitment? No turning back, going all in, that kind of thing…”

Jeff listened intently, soaking in every word. 

“Troy, I think you have to go for it.”

His long lost friend broke into laughter, spitting beer everywhere as he looked over at Jeff.

“What?” Jeff asked innocently.

“No offense man, but why should I listen to you? I’ve watched you dance your way around Annie for five years… avoiding the relationship we all know you want, and settling for the boring middle ground you think you’re content with, because what? It might not work? Age or distance might come into play? Come on man, It’s been five years of the same, and judging from what I’ve seen this past week, I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess the year I was gone was no different.”  
The realization hit Jeff, and Troy was absolutely right.

“No, I have totally taken leaps! I… held her hand once, and we’ve kissed a couple times and I told her how I felt and she told me how she felt-”

“Blah blah blah blah blah,” Troy moaned while rolling his eyes. “Jeff, is Annie your girlfriend??”

“Well… no,” he started.

“Then as far as I’m concerned, you haven’t taken a chance,” Troy stated confidently. 

He stopped in his tracks. Troy was 100% on the money. He HAD been avoiding it, hell, he’d even been avoiding it this week!

“Thanks for the talk Troy, I needed that” he said sincerely.

Troy was beaming with pride, like he’d just won some sort of medal. “No problem, man I’ve never done a Winger Speech before. I kinda like it…”

Jeff rolled his eyes as he stood up from his chair. “Yeah, everyone’s giving them nowadays, it’s weird. Anyways, I have to go see a girl about a thing.”

He made his way over to Annie, who was laughing hysterically with Britta and Abed while sipping a drink. Her eyes met his as he was about halfway over and she gave him a pleasant little wave. He couldn’t stop from eying her over, again and again. She had a big floppy hat with overized Aviators, and a pearl white bikini covered by a silk coverup, just thin enough for him to make out the contours of her body and see the shadow of a belly button, but thick enough to leave something to the imagination.

“JEFFFFFF!!” An already inebriated Britta called out from her spot on the stool as Jeff approached the bar. 

“Hey guys, um can I borrow Annie real quick?”

“ABSOLUUUUUTELY YOU LIL LOVEBIRDSSSSS” crooned the psych major. 

Annie smiled and removed the shades, a touch of uncertainty sketched across her face as she hopped off the stool.

“In private if that’s okay?” He asked her. 

“Of course,” she said a bit hesitantly as the two made their way from the beach area to a hallway off of hotel lobby. Once they were out of earshot and seeing distance from the rest of the group, Annie turned to him and let out a bit of a sigh.

“Jeff, I’m sorry we haven’t talked yet but-OH!” 

She was caught off guard as he lifted her up by the waist and spun her around, smothering her with a kiss that, despite her initial shock, she gladly reciprocated as he put her down. Her hands slid up his arms, as eventually the two pulled away and she looked into his eyes with a mixture of bewilderment and… delight.

“No more talking. We’ve talked enough. Annie Edison, will you be my girlfriend?”

She slapped him lightly on the cheek, “took you long enough you jerk!” She exclaimed as their lips met again and he felt her sinking into his arms. 

When he pulled away this time, he made sure to put on his most mischievous grin as he swept her off her feet and carried her.

“Jeff, where are we going??” She asked in between spurts of laughter as she soaked in the joyride. 

“Annie, we’re in the Bahamas. I have a buzz going, a luxury room overlooking the Atlantic ocean, and now I have a girlfriend. Where do you think we’re going,” he teased as her face twisted to a sly smirk. 

“Lead the way,” she purred as seductively as she could. There wasn’t anywhere else in the world she’d rather be than in Jeff’s arms as he carried her up to his room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

You’d think after six years of building tension, there’d be a pressure on them to make the first time memorable. But it was pretty obvious from the moment he opened the door that this was not the case. It had the exhilaration of a first time… but the chemistry of the billionth time. It felt like they had picked up subtly on each other’s wants and likes and needs after years of talking and teasing and platonic shoulder holding, and it all came to a head as the two spend hours exploring each other. And now Jeff lay in bed, overlooking the royal blue Atlantic ocean, and watching Annie work the mini bar in nothing but his V-neck T-shirt as she prepared two margaritas. She finished, and crawled back across the bed, handing him one as she straddled him with nothing but the sheets preventing them from taking a whack at round five. He looked up at her, her hair still a bit messy from their bit of fun, and decided that he was perfectly okay with losing feeling in his legs if it meant she never had to get off of him. She looked down at him teasingly, positioning herself over him as she sipped her drink: deciding that work was overrated and they should just never leave this suite ever again.

She put her drink down on the night stand and he followed, as he moved up a few inches and she moved down a few and met halfway as they shared another kiss. She slid her arms between his back and the bed, and he did the same around hers before rolling her over onto her backside and pinning her to the mattress. She roared in laughter as she tried to squirm away, and he looked at her with eyes that made her feel like she was the most important thing in the world.   
“  
Jeff?”

“Yeah?”

“I just wanted to say that… ugh, never mind its way too sappy."

"Well now you're obligated to say it... and I'm not getting off you til you do..."

She raised an eyebrow, "Where did you get the idea that i WANTED you off me?"

"Ugh, stop being a high schooler and tell me please..."

She softened. "Well, it's just with where i was when i came into Greendale and where I am now... i would never have been able to be where I am today if it wasn't for you pushing me... You call yourself a slacker yet you pushed me further than even I could push myself.... And I think meeting you may be the greatest thing that ever happened to me.”

“Annie?”

“Yeah?” 

“You may be the best thing that’s ever happened to me too.”

"Really?

"Well... you and 2-in-1 Shampoo and Conditioner...."

She hit him with a pillow.

“Shut up and kiss me already…”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was already their last day of vacation, and Annie never wanted to leave. But if she had to, she’d rather it be alongside Jeff Winger. The Bahaman coast guard had brought Troy’s ship out to the docks, and thanks to his talk with Jeff, Troy was now ready to make good on his voyage. The five stood on the docks as they said their goodbyes, hugging and tearing up once again. 

Troy looked back at his ship, then at the study group. “Well, this is it. Again…” he trailed. 

Abed looked down. “Yeah, I guess it is…”

“Wait!” The five turned around to see LeVar coming up to them with some urgency. “I have news! I have news! I just got off the phone with my agent, who apparently has been leaving me voicemails for the better part of a year…. And I told him about our trip, and about some of your friends Troy, and… He talked to a guy on the Travel Channel who wants to make us a reality show!” Everyone gasped. “He wants you all to sail around the world with us, we already had camera equipment on board our ship to document our sailing so Abed can videotape. Britta, you get to be… well, you, and the rest of you can come along too!” 

“Biracial friends and a celebrity sailing around the world together,” Abed remarked to himself. “It’s so genius I’m ashamed I didn’t think of it sooner. It’s essentially reality TV gold. I’m in.”

“I’m in too! Fuck physiology!” Exclaimed Britta.

“Britta, your major was psychology…”

“Oh yeah… that!”

The four turned to Jeff and Annie. “What about you two?”

Annie sighed and looked back at Jeff. “Sorry, but… I think I have everything I need right here” she said without trying to sound TOO sappy. 

Jeff wrapped his arm around her, and nodded in agreement. “Yeah guys… someone’s gotta keep an eye on Annie… make sure she doesn’t conquer the world TOO fast.”

They all burst into a combination of laughter and coos as Annie swatted at his shoulder. 

“Well… in that case, we’ll miss you guys.”

“We’ll miss you too,” He uttered as they came together for one more group hug. 

“Take care of each other, you understand?? And hell,” Jeff looked down at Annie. “Tell us when you’re approaching Spain or something. Maybe we’ll fly over and hang with you   
guys in Barcelona. We can be guest stars on the show or something…”

The four nodded in agreement. One final round of goodbyes later, and they parted ways one final time. Jeff and Annie watched the Tycoon sailing off into the sunset, only turning around once it had disappeared over the horizon. 

They walked hand in hand down the dock, enjoying the sea breeze blowing in over the crisp, cool ocean. “I’m going to miss them,” Annie confessed solemnly.

“Me too. But honestly I think Abed needed this… and Troy too. I know I said that last time he left, but… he barely made it out of the Atlantic last time, so I think the line warrants a re-use.”

She nodded, smiling. They walked in silence for a few more minutes before Annie cleared her throat. 

“So… I’m flying directy to DC from Atlanta,” she began.

“And I’m going to Denver from Atlanta.”

She processed his words, then stopped and pulled him around, looking up at him while fiddling with the collar on his V-neck. 

“I’ve been thinking about moving to DC permanently to, you know, finish up school and stuff…” she trailed. 

It was his turn to process her words now. “What are you getting at?”

“I don’t know…” she sighed as she continued to fidget with his shirt. “I was wondering if you’d like to move with me?” 

He couldn’t say he was surprised by either her decision to move to DC, or her asking to move with him… but that didn’t mean he didn’t have to think about it for at least a second.

“A town where everyone gets paid a bunch of money to push some papers, give a few speeches and sign some stuff?“ He grinned ear to ear as he looked down at her. She was smiling too, so maybe he was telegraphing his answer a little bit but honestly he didn’t care.

“It sounds like my kinda town,” he finished. “I’ve been told I’d be a great lobbyist… ” She breathed a sigh of relief and lifted up onto her tip toes to place a gentle kiss on his lips   
before sinking back down. He slipped his arm around her and she leaned against him as they looked out into the distance. 

“Jeff?”

“Yeah Annie?”

“Hypothetically speaking, if I said I love you right now, would you promise not to jump into the water and swim away?”

He laughed.

“I promise. And I may even go as far as saying I love you too.”

“That’s good to know,” Annie sighed as they stared into the orange and purple horizon, making their way back to the hotel. 

"That's good to know..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this ending is a bit out of left field but i just reeeeally think that those 4 would make a killer reality show... And it was my way of showing everyone stepping outside their comfort zones, with Abed and Britta following Troy and Jeff following Annie... Hope you liked it! #SixSeasonsAndAMovie
> 
> Thank you all for reading! It's been so encouraging to read the comments at the end of every chapter and its what i look forward to when i get home from work every day! Sorry for the grammar lapses and work deletions and such, but thanks for sticking with me through it all and i hope you liked this last chapter! I love yo faces, time to start working on my uncompleted fics!


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